Scottish League: Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell admits the Old Firm have no chance of winning a place in the Premiership as it negotiates a new television contract.

A new television contract to run from 2007 is being negotiated and Lawwell said: "I think that TV deal will be sorted out without Celtic and Rangers. With a 16-4 vote required, there is no chance of us getting in."

Previous votes have rejected the idea of the Old Firm winning a switch from the Scottish Premier League.

Rangers chairman David Murray has publicly backed off the idea in recent times, saying his club were committed to the SPL. But Celtic director Dermot Desmond this month revealed he and Celtic were still pursuing the possibility.

There had been hopes that pressure from television companies would increase the chances of the two Glasgow clubs being invited to the English game to boost attendances and ratings.

However, Lawwell admitted: "There are no concrete signs of any change."

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan is determined to keep Chris Sutton at Parkhead beyond the summer. Sutton's current deal ends in June but he has the option of a further 12 months and club chiefs are keen to open talks about extending his contract at the end of the season.

The 32-year-old has endured an injury-ravaged campaign and has made just seven starts in the Premier League this season. Even so, he has been linked with a return to England, with former clubs Blackburn and Norwich monitoring his situation.

But asked whether he was resigned to losing the versatile player, Strachan replied: "Not at all . . . . "We're very keen that Chris remains at the club and hopefully this can be achieved."

Strachan insists his claims that he is committed to keeping Sutton at Parkhead are backed up by his decision to draft the Englishman back into the first team when available.

"From a playing point of view, any time he is fit, he plays," stated the Celtic boss.

"The only time he didn't play was at Inverness when he had a virus and it was his decision to be on the bench.

"Any other time if he is fit he isn't even a sub, he goes directly into the team. Chris knows exactly what I think of him and that shows what I think of him.

It's not often you bring people directly into the team after long lay-offs. "He's a big, big player who we are keen to keep with us."

Strachan insists the only changes he wants to bring to Parkhead are new faces but he concedes that will only happen by moving players on.

"It's crazy period now, it really is," he said. "We've got about 150 players we're looking at all over the world and then we've got to narrow it down to what we can and cannot afford and it might just come down to two or three people that we can bring in here.

"We could only use transfer money from wages which went out in the summer to balance the books. There was nothing taken from the bank as such.

"If opportunities come along and there is a financial package with players who we feel can better the club we will do that."