TOMMY BURNS last night defended his gamble of putting Celtic's championship chase on hold for 10 days. Matches against Kilmarnock at Celtic Park tomorrow and at Raith on Saturday have been called off because of World Cup call ups for Jorge Cadete and Pierre Van Hooydonk.

Celtic have thus given Rangers the opportunity to open a 17 point gap at the top of the Scottish League Premier Division in their challenge for a ninth successive title.

Rangers, eight points clear at present, could stretch that to 17 if they win at Dundee United tonight and at home to Dunfermline on Saturday and Kilmarnock next Tuesday, 24 hours before Celtic travel to Dunfermline.

But Burns sees his decision, not as a risky business but "the obvious and right course of action" in the wake of Saturday's defeat at Motherwell.

He knows that Alan Stubbs, who had flu at the weekend, will have recovered for the trip to Dunfermline and Phil O'Donnell, out for much of the season, could also be back then. And hamstring injury victim Jackie McNamara and club skipper Paul McStay will miss fewer matches following the ruling.

Italian Paolo Di Canio's one match suspension, which he was due to serve at Raith on Saturday, will now be held over until the visit to East End Park.

The Scottish League has rescheduled the Celtic Kilmarnock game for Wednesday January 8th and Raith Celtic for Tuesday January 14th.