Hamilton rule out New Douglas Park for East Kilbride v Celtic tie

Hamilton Academical say they have "no intention" of making their ground available for the Scottish Cup tie between East Kilbride and Celtic.

Last week, the Scottish FA revealed New Douglas Park would host the fifth-round tie within hours of Kilby securing their place in the last 16 with a 2-0 home win over Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale.

East Kilbride had announced before the replay victory over their East of Scotland League rivals that their 500-capacity K-Park Training Academy would be unable to meet the demands a match against the Scottish champions would bring.

Hampden, Celtic Park and Broadwood (home of Clyde), along with K-Park and New Douglas Park, were put forward as possible venues, and the home of the Accies appeared to be rubber-stamped for the February 7 encounter.

But in a statement on their website, Hamilton said: "It has recently been reported that we will be hosting the William Hill Scottish Cup 5th round fixture between East Kilbride and Celtic on Sunday 7th February.

"We have a full programme of Academy, Youth and Community events already planned for that weekend and have no intention of altering our club programme and as a result will not be in a position to make New Douglas Park available to stage the tie." 

East Kilbride will meet with the Scottish FA on Tuesday to discuss a new venue for the biggest match in the club's short history.