RANGERS director Alastair Johnston has questioned whether Celtic would be awarded “eight-and-a-half in a row” if the SPFL decide to call the title early.

Johnston insists if the Hoops were crowned champions now then there would forever be an asterisk beside the 2019/20 league campaign.

Neil Lennon’s side are currently 13 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, with Rangers in second place. And it remains to be seen how the campaign will be played out.

Some have called for the league to be declared null and void, while others believe the campaign should be ended with current standings counting as final.

Johnston, 71, however believes all games should be played out if entirely possible.

Speaking to The Times, he said: "I don't want to be frivolous about it but a lot of Rangers fans have reached out to me and basically said, 'Mr Johnston, if Celtic are designated as the winners of the league, does it mean they have won eight-and-a-half in a row?'

"That's not something you want - that asterisk.

"So ideally I can't imagine that anybody really wants to have their efforts undermined or compromised or not appreciated.

"The ideal would be to get [the full season] done, but there is also the reality of the financial situation.

"Can you actually afford to run by June? You've got a lot of players that are out of contract at the end of June.

"What's going to happen? The financial circumstances of football clubs right now is also significant.

"Ideally from the clubs' standpoint and for the integrity of the game, we would like every effort to be made to finish the season.

"That's going to be challenging. There is still April, May, June and potentially July before things get going again, but we've got to be realistic. We've got to work with reality and not aspiration, no question about that."

A joint SPFL and SFA panel are expected to make an announcement on the fiture of the 2019/20 campaign later this week.