Scott Brown wants current standings to count if Premiership is halted

Celtic captain Scott Brown claims current league standings should count if the season is forced to come to a premature end.

Scottish football authorities are discussing their next move after the Holyrood government announced plans to curtail large gatherings.

Matches could be played behind closed doors or the season temporarily suspended, but the coronavirus crisis is causing an ever-changing set of scenarios which could mean the campaign cannot be finished.

However, Brown believes there need to be winners and losers.

Speaking ahead of Celtic’s bid to move 16 points clear of Rangers in the Ladbrokes Premiership at Ibrox on Sunday, the midfielder said: “If it ends, it stays at it is. We are in a good position, but we just need to focus on this game on Sunday.

“The main thing is we make sure everyone is OK, they are all safe and we try and catch this on the head as soon as we can.

“But obviously we still want to play football and win as many games as we can, whether it’s in front of fans or not.”

When the prospect of a season finishing without a champion was suggested, Brown said: “I don’t know what’s going to happen, it just seems to get worse day by day.

“We have just got to take the lead from the club and the SFA as well and we will worry about that when it comes, but as things stand as it is just now, we are in a good position. But we need to make sure we focus on this game on Sunday.”

The more likely scenario is that games are played in empty grounds for a short period at least – although Ibrox is set to be full for Sunday’s derby.

Brown said: “It will be sad if there’s no fans there because that’s what football is all about. It would be weird playing behind closed doors, but if it gets the league done and dusted and we managed to keep up with the fixtures as well, it helps everybody.

“If it goes behind closed doors then the SFA are looking out for the welfare of every single person.

“It would be strange playing anyone behind closed doors. You hear every single voice. At Celtic Park we can’t hear each other.”

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