FRANK McAVENNIE has hit back at Rangers director Alastair Johnston after the former Ibrox chairman said Celtic could only claim half a title if the season was ended early.

The Hoops are currently 13 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership and there have been calls to end the campaign early with current standings counting as final.

And Johnston declared Neil Lennon’s side would only be entitled to “eight-and-a-half” in a row if the season was declared complete before all the fixtures have been played.

But now Parkhead hero McAvennie has laughed off these claims by striking back with his own opinion on the matter. 

Speaking to The Scottish Sun, he said: “If he is saying it would only be eight and a half this year, does that mean Celtic would be going for nine and a half next season?

“That’s still better than nine, isn’t it? It would still be a record.

“All the Celtic supporters would need to do is change the words to their ‘ten in a row’ song. 

“They did that with Brendan Rodgers. He was here for ten in a row and then it was seven and a half!

“The bottom line is Celtic want to play the games if possible. They don’t want to end the season now.

“If they were asking for the Premiership to be called off that would be a different situation.

“But Neil Lennon and Peter Lawwell have both stated publicly they want the games to be played.

“So how can you have a go at Celtic?

“There are probably more Rangers people out there who want it called now so they can claim, ‘You never won it’.

“Celtic were on fire when the games were stopped. They were 13 points clear and flying towards the title.

“Rangers will say they had a game in hand and still had to play Celtic twice.

“But they were struggling for form and if football had continued I think the league would be over by now.

“There wouldn’t have been any problems for Celtic — and there won’t be any if the league is restarted.”

The SPFL are set to make a statement today on how the league campaign will be played out and McAvennie is keen for the season to be played out in full.

He added: “I want the final eight games to be played and so does everyone connected with Celtic.

“But it probably suits Rangers if the league doesn’t restart as their fans would then say, ‘You never won it’.

“It gives supporters something to shout about and start all the talk of not going for ten next season.

“But that’s always the way with the rivalry and bragging rights between Celtic and Rangers.”