**Rangers have become the latest club to attack the Scottish Premier League’s fixtures and called for the split to be scrapped completely.**Motherwell are considering their position after being left unhappy by their final five games, while St Mirren say their schedule is unfair.
Now Rangers chief executive Martin Bain has criticised the decision to hand his side three away fixtures in a row.
Rangers claim a “lack of sporting integrity” in how games are arranged.
The Ibrox side are 13 points ahead of Glasgow rivals Celtic and on the brink of retaining their title.
But that has not prevented them entering the debate over the final five league fixtures, which were announced on Saturday evening.
It is certainly our understanding that clubs are never forced to play three away games in a row before the split
The SPL splits into two sections, with the top six playing off for the title and qualification for the Champions League and Europa League while the bottom six fight it out to avoid relegation.
Motherwell said on Monday that they plan to challenge their fixtures as they are unhappy at having to play a third fixture of the season away to Celtic in the top six.
St Mirren are angry at having to face a third trip of the season away to relegation rivals Falkirk.
The SPL has responded by saying that there was no mathematical way of ensuring that every side played 19 home and 19 away fixtures because of who had qualified in each half of the league.
But Rangers have called for a debate over the SPL’s structure, saying that “many external factors are affecting the make-up of the post-split fixtures, which has led to a lack of sporting integrity”.
“Indeed, the club would like to look at ways of losing the split completely,” said Rangers’ website.
Among other considerations when deciding the post-split schedule, the SPL attempts to avoid a Celtic-Rangers derby being a title decider.
And Bain told his club website: "We are obviously pleased to be in a good position in the SPL going into the post-split fixtures.
"However, we have not won anything yet and we feel that the way the games have been scheduled places us at a competitive disadvantage.
“We find it very disappointing and surprising that we have been asked to play three consecutive away matches in the space of 10 days at such a crucial stage of the season.”
Rangers will visit Hibernian, Dundee United and Celtic - something Rangers say “flies in the face” of one of the main priorities of the SPL fixtures working group.
“We know we have work to do in our efforts to win the championship, but it is maybe just as well we have a good lead given the schedule we are faced with,” added Bain.
“It is certainly our understanding that clubs are never forced to play three away games in a row before the split, so we don’t know why we are being asked to do so now.”
There have been a number of calls this season from managers in the SPL, including Rangers’ Walter Smith, for the league to be expanded to include more clubs.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.