But Strachan, who takes over officially from Martin O’Neill today, made it clear he believed many south of the border were well aware of the benefits of the scheme.

He said: “I just know without a doubt that everyone in the Premiership in England would like Rangers and Celtic there – apart from that is the two or three who would miss out.

“I think it would be absolutely fantastic but I would need to make sure clubs here were protected at the same time.

“You can’t go barging away as it is communities we are talking about with other clubs and they play a huge part in those communities.”

Strachan insisted his top priority was to reclaim the Bank of Scotland Premier League title from Rangers.

He said: “My vision though is to win the SPL title next year – after that then, who knows?

“I very rarely have long-term ambitions. I never dreamed I would get this job or be at Manchester United when I went there.

“I just did my job wherever I was and ended somewhere else when asked. I’ll just do my job again here and see where we end up.”