Celtic hero John Hartson urged Rangers to concede the Scottish Premiership title – but that won’t be happening under the watch of Ibrox assistant Gary McAllister. 

The Light Blues No2 insists there is no way his side will give up on their chances of being crowned champions, despite being 13 points behind Neil Lennon’s Hoops. 

And the 55 year old is adamant that all remaining fixtures of the 2019/20 season must be played out as the only fair and viable option.

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Speaking to The Scottish Sun, he said: “I don’t see any other way. We have got to finish the leagues somehow. But I realise there are a lot of: ‘What ifs’. Does the season get shortened when we eventually get back?

“With the Euros now next summer, you could have guys playing football for two years non-stop to catch up. What happens about contracts that are running out in the next few months?

“But you would take all the problems just to get the current season finished. We’ve been trying to work backwards off the dates that have been mentioned. Uefa want to get domestic leagues finished by June 30, so we’re all working towards that end.”

Rangers players, along with the rest of Scotland’s top flight, are currently on daily training programmes as well as strict diet regimes. And McAllister says all his players are taking their fitness seriously so they are up to full speed when football returns.

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He said: “The fitness side is something every club is having to adapt to. They are limited in terms of fitness work, so the players have to view it as proper down-time.

“The squad have GPS fitness trackers and they have all been given schedules to cover distances while we’re all apart, but there’s nothing like being together. Individually they are cracking on, making the best of it and just trying to keep up to speed.

“But the one biggest thing we’re all missing is being part of the group. I’ve been retired from playing a long time and I still miss it. It’s why you stay in the game in any capacity.

"Even in the past when I was doing bits for the media, I was still bumping into football people. It’s that mentality, football people like being around each other because we’ve all done it for so long.

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“That’s what none of us are getting at the moment and what we’re all missing. But everyone’s in the same predicament, and it’s having an affect across every aspect of the game.

“The media, players, staff — everyone involved in it does it because they love it. It’s not like it’s just a job. Every professional sportsman will be struggling from that point of view.

“No one knows when getting back together is going to be allowed, because if we’re back together, the social distancing thing goes out the window. There was an opening for our European players to go home last week, but since then countries have started shutting their borders down.”

McAllister doesn’t envy the footballing governing bodies who will be making the call on how competitions can be played out and admits it will be a struggle to cram the games in. 

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But he admits there are more serious matters to worry about amid the coronavirus crisis.

He added: “In a keenly contested football calendar, there are going to be so many questions. If we’re in the Europa League and we’re still going to have four qualifying rounds, when do you play them? Do you play them as one-leg ties?

“Before the game shut down, we were playing three matches a week anyway, so how do you get more games into the fixture list? I read a suggestion that you don’t play the League Cup to help get league games played, but you can’t take money away from clubs.

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“If a smaller club draws Rangers or Celtic away in the League Cup what a financial windfall it is for them. Is it fair to deprive them of that?

“Like everybody else, I’ve been watching the government briefings every day and trying to follow what’s going on. I don’t know anyone who’s tested positive, but you look at Spain and Italy and it’s really serious. The big fear for the government, I’d guess, is health services collapsing under the strain.

"When you see guys of your own generation, like Paolo Maldini, guys who were super-fit athletes, now testing positive for the virus, then the concerns really grow.”