Six locked in a frantic scramble to stay alive
IT has been a dramatic season full of ups and downs for the teams battling to avoid the drop. And with D-Day rapidly approaching, who looks like ending the campaign nursing that dreaded sinking feeling?
Going into the final four matches after the split, no team in the bottom six can claim with certainty to be out of the woods just yet.
Six points separate Kilmarnock in seventh place and the current play-off candidates Motherwell, who occupy 11th.
Increasingly nervy fans of each relegation-haunted side are now desperately seeking reasons why their team can prevail in a fraught finale to the Premiership.
Here, Sportsmail assesses each side’s chances of surviving the most cut-throat season in modern top-flight history.
KILMARNOCK Position: 7th. Reasons to be cheerful:
Saturday’s 2-0 win at Hamilton means Kilmarnock will not finish bottom of the Premiership. And beating Dundee at Rugby Park this weekend will go a long way to ensuring the team with the tightest defence in the bottom six will not be in the play-offs for a second successive season.
A lot of the optimism swirling around in Ayrshire is down to Lee McCulloch, who has done a fine job since taking over from the erratic stewardship of Lee Clark and is surely deserving of the post on a permanent basis.
Reasons to be fearful:
Kilmarnock are the second lowest scorers in the league and their home form is poor, having won just three times at Rugby Park all season. While Killie’s form away from home is top-six quality, three of their four remaining matches are on their own plastic pitch. Key Man: Conor Sammon. Prediction: 8th.
ROSS COUNTY Position: 8th. Reasons to be cheerful:
Friday night’s 4-0 derby thumping of Inverness Caley Thistle has given Jim McIntyre’s men a four-point cushion from the relegation play-off place.
And in four-goal Liam Boyce, they possess an in-form striker capable of firing them to safety, although he is suspended for this weekend’s clash with Motherwell.
Reasons to be fearful:
Lose at Motherwell this weekend and, if Hamilton win at Inverness and Dundee triumph at Kilmarnock, County will be just a point off the play-off place with three matches remaining. They are short of firepower for this weekend with star-man Boyce and diving-sinner Alex Schalk both suspended. Key Man: Liam Boyce. Prediction: 7th.
DUNDEE Position: 9th. Reasons to be cheerful:
The surprise arrival of Neil McCann as interim boss has lifted the club after a gloomy few months. His fresh voice appears to be working on players who were stuck in a rut under Paul Hartley.
Saturday’s 3-2 win at Motherwell prevented the Dark Blues from losing eight in a row in the top flight for the first time since 1898.
Reasons to be fearful:
The worry for Dundee is that next up is a tough match at Kilmarnock — and the loss of momentum that defeat would bring. This is a group of players whose character has been questioned from within the Dens dressing room this season.
How would they cope with a setback of another damaging loss? Key Man: Scott Bain. Prediction: 9th.
HAMILTON Position: 10th. Reasons to be cheerful:
Saturday’s defeat at home to Kilmarnock was disappointing but Martin Canning’s men had been unbeaten in four games.
Accies will be looking to bounce back to form quickly this weekend away to whipping boys Inverness.
Reasons to be fearful:
Accies are above Motherwell in the play-off place on goal difference alone. They are also the lowest scorers in the league and have only won once all season on the road. Key Man: Mikey Devlin. Prediction: 11th.
MOTHERWELL Position: 11th. Reasons to be cheerful:
In Louis Moult and Scott McDonald, the Steelmen have a strike pair who have grabbed 28 goals between them this season.
And with three legitimate ‘goals’ denied this term — two efforts against Dundee and one against Hamilton all crossing the line but not awarded — the hope is Motherwell have already used up their share of bad luck.
Reasons to be fearful:
Since Stephen Robinson took over permanently, Motherwell have only won once. With the exception of Inverness, they have shipped the most goals out of the bottom six. Key man: Louis Moult. Prediction: 10th.
INVERNESS CT Position: 12th. Reasons to be fearful:
Caley Thistle are seven points adrift at the bottom with four games left. They have the worst defence and have won once in their last 23 league matches.
Reasons to be cheerful:
None. Caley Thistle promoted a rookie boss, Richie Foran, on a four-year deal but that is just the tip of the iceberg at a club that has lost its way since winning the Scottish Cup in 2015.
After the 4-0 loss at Ross County, club legend and current employee Charlie Christie savaged dysfunctional Caley Thistle from top to bottom. A massive rebuilding job awaits in the Championship. Key Man: Greg Tansey. Prediction: 12th.