Scotland's clubs receive an extra place in the UEFA Cup 2009

Scotland clubs will receive an additional place in the UEFA Cup in 2009/10, the Scottish Premier League revealed.

Scotland will have at least four teams in European competition next season, will join Hibernian and Celtic, Rangers, Motherwell and Queen of the South if they qualify through the Intertoto Cup.

It will be guaranteed a five the next season that the Intertoto Cup will be replaced by another qualifying round in the UEFA Cup.

The team that finishes fourth in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League are likely to take this additional space, but their participation could be at the expense of some of their summer holidays.

SPL secretary Iain Blair said: "The UEFA Cup begins in June and participation is mandatory, while the Intertoto had been voluntary.

"If a team does not want to start their season in June or early July, they have more options."

Scotland will retain its two slots Champions League and Blair revealed that the Scottish Cup winners continue to enter the UEFA Cup in the round before the stadium.

The SPL of the third placed team will begin their campaign a higher level in the third qualifying round, while the fourth placed team will begin in early July in the second round of qualification.

The Intertoto Cup has not proved popular in Scotland with only Partick Thistle and Hibs on two occasions, entering since its inception in 1995.

Hibs would be the first Scottish team to succeed in the tournament if they are victorious in two rounds of the summer, the first against Swedish side Elfsborg or HB Torshavn of the Faroe Islands.

Meanwhile, the SPL are not yet hear from UEFA on their demand that the Scottish Cup-runners are not eligible in the future.

Queen of the South are the third First Division side in three years to account for Scotland in the UEFA Cup after Dunfermline and Gretna cup final losers.