For teams at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership, five games remain between now and the end of the season to confirm their survival. One team will head down to the Championship automatically, while another will play against Championship clubs in the playoffs to try and survive.
Unless we see something dramatic, which could happen because the bottom six all play each other in these final games, then it seems as though there are three teams really in the mix for this. One will go down, one will go to the playoffs and the victorious team will survive in the Premiership for another season.
With huge games taking place between now and the end of the season, newly licensed UK bookmakers will be busy with bets on Scottish football, every game down at the bottom of the table is a six pointer, and everyone wants to be involved.
The Standings So Far
As we go into the final stage of the season, St Mirren and Dundee United should be safe as they have 40 and 39 points respectively. Motherwell have 35 points, and should be safe, but a bad run would see them dragged in.
Then we have the main three, and there is very little between them. Ross County are currently safe with 29 points, followed by Kilmarnock who occupy the playoff position with 28 points. Those in the Championship will be interested in who finishes here, and goes with the three teams that make the Championship playoffs. Lastly Hamilton hold the bottom position and would be relegated with 27 points.
As you can see though, just two points separate these three teams on the current standings, so just one win would be enough to lift a team from the bottom of the table all the way up to complete safety, showing just how important every single week of the season is going to be as we head towards the end.
Important Dates in the Calendar
With the bottom six all playing each other between now and the end of the season, there are many six pointers and those begin with the Scottish Premiership fixtures for April.
Kilmarnock and Ross County play against each other on April 10, a game that will have huge implications at the bottom of the table. Later in the month on April 27, Hamilton host Motherwell, putting together the team at the bottom and one that could find themselves dragged back into the scrap, so that should be another huge game on the calendar.
The action then continues through May, where we will eventually get to the final games of the season and depending on the standings, these could be what decides things.
On the final day, Hamilton play Kilmarnock, who are currently the bottom two teams while Ross County play Motherwell, who are the two teams above them and currently in safe spots. By the time we get there, that could have all changed, but the feeling is that the relegation battle in the Scottish Premiership is going to give us fascinating viewing between now and the end of the season.