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As I have already said, it was insane to schedule so many matches in January - for Scotland in general, not just for the teams in the north. Have I got this right? The minimum number of games a Scottish League One (or Two) team will play this season is 47 - 36 league games, 6 KDM Evolution, 4 Premier Sports Cup, and 1 Scottish Cup. Cup runs, replays and play-offs can add to that. Minumum number for an EPL club that's not in Europe? I reckon it's 40 - 38 league, 1 Caraboa Cup, 1 FA Cup. Possibly also cup runs and replays, but no play-offs. Which country has the milder climate? And clubs in which league have infinitely more resources, on and off the pitch? Madness. We really need to look at reducing the number of games to be played, and scheduling more matches towards the start and end of the season when the weather is better.

I'm minded to think the same way, but Premier League teams will not want to cut Old Firm visits from 4 to 2 each season with the revenue loss that would bring.

I’ve long been a supporter of three 16 team leagues playing each other twice instead of four times. In the grand scheme of things it wouldn’t make a massive difference to the total number of games played in a season but the reduction would be a step in the right direction and give scope for a mid-season break if there was an appetite for it.

As things stand, we’ll have 50 games this season: 36 league 2 Scottish Cup (hopefully at least one more) 4 League Cup 8 Challenge Cup (maybe more if we spring a surprise at Firhill) I don’t think the EPL is the right comparator as they have a lot of teams in Europe and many players in international duty. The Championship, League 1 and League 2 down there have 46 league games. I don’t think the number of games, per se, is the issue, but the timing of them. No Challenge Cup midweek games should be scheduled in December, January or February. Let’s just be thankful replays are a thing of the past.

The fixture backlog is a bit of a concern. We’ve now got 5 games in a fortnight starting from Saturday, the first 4 of them away from home, which will be tough on the squad. There’s also a risk the Cove game on Saturday will be a weather victim given the amount of snow in the Aberdeen area. Hopefully the pitch is playable for it.