HE SHOULD be walking down the aisle on the happiest day of his life.

 

But Cammy Bell could find himself striding out of the tunnel on the biggest afternoon of his career.

As the dates for the conclusion to the Championship campaign have been batted about the Hampden boardroom and come under fire from the big guns in Edinburgh this week, Bell has had his own reason to look nervously at the calendar.

Victory for Hibernian in the Scottish Cup semi-final against Falkirk this afternoon, and a win for Queen of the South at Alloa that would deny the Bairns a top-four finish, will spark another fixture farce and could see the domestic season extended into June.

With the showpiece event of our game scheduled for May 30 and the Premiership play-off final set to be played over two legs on May 28 and 31, the SPFL will have a major headache on their hands.

And, as the Scottish Cup final is set in stone, the Hampden hierarchy will need to make a decision on the crunch promotion clashes sooner rather than later.

And there is one date in particular - June 5 - that Rangers keeper Bell is eager to avoid as he gets set to tie the knot with fiancée Emma at his home in Annan.

"There are going to be huge discussions because there are players out of contract, players having booked holidays and other commitments," he said.

"As a footballer, the only time off you are kind of guaranteed is June. That's the whole reason I arranged my wedding for that date.

"There will be discussions because they will have to come up with a date sooner or later and it will be resolved. And hopefully we will be in that

final - whenever it is - because that's our main aim.

"That's what I want - to play in that game and to take Rangers into the top league. I'm desperate to be involved.

"When we booked the wedding, we looked at the play-off final and Scottish Cup final, which would potentially be our last two games. That's all you can do. That's the reason we booked that date. You can only plan so far, but these things have come up this season and things could change."

While any extension to the campaign could present a logistical nightmare in the Bell household, it will also cause problems in boardrooms across the country.

Clubs involved in the play-offs could have to strike short-term agreements with players to play in the Premiership deciders, with many deals due to expire on May 31.

Rangers have a dozen stars out of contract at the end of next month, but Bell insists the Light Blues squad haven't pondered what the situation could mean at Ibrox.

He said: "We have not spoken about anything yet. I've heard about the situation, but I don't know how we are going to deal with that - that's up to the club and the players to sort out with the league.

"The players haven't looked that far ahead yet. We've got some huge games ahead that we have to deal with first and foremost. We want to finish second, then we'll take it from there."

Having been caught in the middle of the row between the SPFL, Hibernian and Hearts over the timing of their trip to Tynecastle on the final day of the season, Rangers could find themselves in the eye of a play-off storm in the coming weeks.

Finishing second in the Championship this season would give Stuart McCall's side a better chance of a top-flight return this term.

And Bell is determined to take another step towards the best-of-the-rest spot at Dumbarton this afternoon as Rangers set their sights on a maximum nine points from their final three fixtures.

He said: "That is what we are aiming for, we're not looking at anything less than that.

"We've put ourselves in the position of being one ahead and we know it's going to be tough, but if we get the nine points we are there."

Rangers make the trip to the Rock aiming to bounce back from a 1-1 draw with Livingston in midweek as they dropped two crucial points in the promotion battle.

The Lions were left furious when Jordan White was punished for a foul on Bell early on, with a terrific Myles Hippolyte free-kick not enough for Mark Burchill's side on the night as Marius Zaliukas rescued a draw for Rangers.

It was a frustrating evening all round for the Light Blues, but Bell knows it could prove to be a decisive point come the end of the campaign.

He said: "It was one of those nights where the pitch was bobbly and dry. It was tough for us and they played well to their strengths.

"It's a good point when we look at it. I was fouled - I still have a bump on the side of my head!

"To be fair, the boy did catch me with an elbow to the side of my head and that is the truth. And, if the boy is honest, he'd admit it.

"We knew it was a tough match, but we are in a good position in second place and we know now if we go and win our last three games we will finish second.

"So it's up to us. We have a lot of big games coming up, starting with Dumbarton."