Sunday Mail (UK)

SCREEN TESTS

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due to security reasons in midweek.

BT Sport wanted the duo to cover Celtic’s early match away to Real Betis from a studio at the Govan ground before being replaced by Ally McCoist and David Weir for Gers’ home game against Lyon.

This is a regular occurrence from the broadcaste­r who reverse the roles when Gers are away in the early kick- of f as they make Parkhead their base.

That will be the case the next time the Glasgow giants play on the same night in the Europa League on November 4.

McCoist and former Light Blues team- mate and ex-Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes will cover Steven Gerrard’s team in action away to Brondby at 5.45pm.

And Sutton and Lennon will then step in for Celtic’s 8pm kick off at home to Hungarians Ferencvaro­s.

The next time the Hoops are in action in the early game is on Matchday Five and it will see a potential repeat of the issues that occurred in midweek.

Celtic are away to Bayer Leverkusen with the Light Blues host ing Spar ta Prague in the penultimat­e group fixtures.

BT Sport – who paid £1.2 BILLION for the rights to the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League until 2024 – are considerin­g how to deal with the situation as they look to avoid another row.

They were forced to rip up their plans at the 11th hour and cover the Beits game from a London studio with Stiliyan Petrov stepping in.

And one option is simply to cover both games from Parkhead despite Celtic being away from home and Rangers in action at Ibrox.

A well- placed BT Sport source told MailSport: “If this scenario comes up again then the safety of our staff is paramount. But the cost to us doubles if we have to set up two studios so it’s more economical to have just one base.

“Therefore, one option being considered is to set the studio up at Parkhead. It s e ems ludicrous considerin­g we won’t have the fans arriving for the game as they’ll be at Ibrox.”

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