THE Old Firm will not be taking part in a title decider - but the SPL will have a helicopter ready should the title race go down to the wire.

Celtic and Rangers are separated by just three points at the top of the table, with Gordon Strachan's side having their noses out in front.

With 10 league matches remaining this season, the SPL realise there is every chance the championship could again be decided on the final day.

Last term, Celtic successfully defended their title by beating Dundee United at Tannadice as Rangers went down to Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

SPL bosses have confirmed that the final Old Firm showdown of the season will take place soon after the split to avoid a possible title decider at Ibrox.

SPL executive chairman Lex Gold said: "What we try to do with the last five fixtures is ensure that we don't have the title decider between the Old Firm and we have been successful in doing that in recent years.

"But we might have the helicopter on standby again and that would be the third time in six years, which isn't bad for this little league that everybody has a go at."

Regardless of who triumphs, Gold is hoping the championship goes the distance once again.

He said: "I hope it does because it keeps interest in the league and, despite the comments there are about this league, there are a lot of people keen on watching it."

Meanwhile, the SPL have told Setanta they fully expect them to honour their current television deal.

The Irish-based broadcasters are up to date with their payments for televising Premier League games.

But recent reports claiming Setanta were seeking to renegotiate their £150m deal for the rights to the FA Cup and had withheld an instalment of £10m sparked fears the company were struggling financially.

The current SPL deal runs until 2010 and is worth £54.5million to Scottish football's top flight, while last summer a new contract worth £125million was agreed until 2014.

As far as Gold is concerned, the situation is quite simple.

"We've got a contract with Setanta and they are up to date with their payments to us," he said. "Clearly, they are looking at the model again because they are expected to get two of the packages from the English Premier League going forward and they haven't done that.

"But we have a contract with them and our position is that we expect Setanta to honour that contract."

Asked whether the SPL had no concerns about the Setanta deal, Gold added: "You've got to always continually look at it and we are in close touch with Setanta."