We are well ahead of the rest in terms of games played, two additional fixtures have come our way in recent weeks and our competitors are playing catch up. The Hamilton v Falkirk game will be an irrelevance to our league position but Motherwell fans will have in interest in the fate of our neighbours. Their presence in the SPL gives us a few derbies but would we rather see them relegated?
Of real importance are the remaining three fixtures.
Hearts v Hibs
An argument can be made for any result in the Edinburgh derby. A win for the home team keeps us in fourth place and still eight points ahead of Hearts whereas an away win does no damage assuming the cup semi-finals go to plan! Those who would prefer St Johnstone in the top six mix will favour cheering in the streets of Leith this weekend.
Aberdeen v Dundee United
Given that United are our next target we need Mark McGhee’s rag tags to do us a favour. An Aberdeen win, though unlikely, would give us a huge opportunity when we travel to Tannadice next week. Anything but a win would surely condemn the Dons to a bottom six finish so we can hope that they have some success at Pittodrie.
Celtic v St Johnstone
A surprise win by the Saints would give the super optimists grounds for believing that we could still reach second spot! Our form this season can stand up to Celtic’s fairly well. Both teams have lost only six times so far this season and, remarkably, had the league still been operating on the two points for a win basis then Motherwell would be two points behind the Parkhead team. The odds on an away win are around 10/1 so we can discount that likelihood. The chances are that a home win will delay St Johnstone’s run at sixth place but they will still have games in hand and Hearts will feel them closing in.
Regardless of this weekend’s results our trip to Tannadice will play an important part in the run in toward the end of the campaign. Jim Gannon’s regime delivered a win there in September. Can Craig and Archie match that next week?
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