ALAN BURROWS has dismissed the notion that the upcoming Old Firm derby had anything to do with the top flight's decision to bring the winter break forward.

Appearing on Clyde1 Superscoreboard, the Motherwell chief executive admitted that the match at Parkhead - which was originally scheduled to be played on January 2 - dominated much of the agenda when the restrictions on crowds were introduced last month.

However, Burrows argued that 'a lot of people see decisions in Scottish football through the prism of the Old Firm' and was adamant that the rest of the Premiership weren't thinking about the top-of-the-table clash when they were casting their votes.

"The overwhelming majority of clubs wanted it [the winter break brought forward]," he said.

"The tribal nature of Scottish football means people think there was some sort of agenda behind it. A lot of people see decisions in Scottish football through the prism of the Old Firm.

"That January 2 Old Firm match seemed to dominate people’s thinking.

"I can tell you, unequivocally, and I speak for the people I spoke to at clubs, that their consideration had nothing to do with the Old Firm game.

"Every club I spoke to considered their own fans getting to see matches, while trying to protect their income.

"We had a chance to bring the break forward to get fans in and we took it. Overall, it’s welcome news for everyone. I am delighted.

"There is no doubt that had fans not been allowed to come back, there would have been a bit of ‘I told you so’ from certain camps. I understand how tribal we are in Scotland.

"But clubs like Motherwell were focused on making sure as many fixtures as possible took place in front of live crowds. Supporters are our unique selling point, they are the fabric of the game and that was our focus."