A FORMER referee has claimed the SPFL deserve credit for making the "sensible" decision to bring forward the winter break.

Chiefs at the governing body ruled the halt of fixtures should come into force a week early with the matches on Boxing Day the last before the temporary pause.

The decision came after ten clubs - excluding Rangers and Ross County - called for the break to be moved amid strict Scottish Government attendance curbs.

Under circuit breaker restrictions clubs can only house 500 spectators for matches until at least the three-week review - where curbs could be eased.

It's hoped the Covid situation will have improved meaning full capacity crowds when the football returns later in January.

And former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has praised the SPFL for making the difficult decision.

He told Football Insider: “I think they are to be applauded for bringing the break forward, it’s a sensible move.

“They’ve gone through a long period without fans previously so I think this is the sensible move.

“The difficulty that a football club has is two-fold. There’s a positive if a club has a number of injured players. It gives them time to recover which is a benefit.

“But then they’ve almost got to do a basic pre-season again. Three weeks, what happens to the players, the momentum and all that goes with it.

“It’s not an easy decision. There are employment issues in terms of staffing. A football club has got monthly costs, those don’t suddenly go away.”