All to play for in race to be the SPL's second-best

With one bookmaker already paying out on Celtic winning the title, after the champions moved into a 13-point lead over Heart of Midlothian, the focus may now switch to the race to finish as runners-up. And that may not be as straightforward as it seems.

With Hearts and Rangers both caught up in their own turmoil, one look over their shoulders will provide a glimpse of a six-strong pack who believe this is their best- ever opportunity to finish second in the Premierleague and earn entry to the Champions League qualifying rounds.

Aberdeen, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Kilmarnock, Falkirk, Hibernian and St Mirren are in hot pursuit, covered only by three points. With Hearts just two points better off than Rangers, who are themselves on the same 19-point mark as Kilmarnock and Inverness, there has never been a more densely-packed table at this stage of the campaign.

Even Hibernian, who are down in eighth, have been lifted by their midweek CIS Cup win over Hearts and now believe that they can catch their city rivals and steal second place and the Champions League passport that belonged to the Tynecastle club this season.

Tommy Craig, the Hibernian assistant manager, insisted yesterday that John Collins can bring a new era to Easter Road. The quality is already there, in terms of winning against Hearts or the Old Firm, but now the pair are looking for consistency, starting today at home to Inverness, whose away record makes them the best Premierleague team on the road apart from Celtic.

“If you look at our last two games, we know what type of performance is possible, maybe even probable because we are on a bit of a high just now,” Craig said. “We have to reproduce that level of performance and that’s the hardest thing of all. However, that is the demand that is going to be put on the players, they cannot say they cannot do this or that.

“They showed exactly what they are capable of, the tempo was high, we were on song in parts of the game and the ball was being moved around quickly and efficiently.

“On the other hand, human beings are human beings and you are not always going to be on top of your game so we are trying to impress on the players the importance of winning games when they are not playing well. There’s only one team doing that at the moment and they are sitting top of the league. They have the knack of being able to go into games, not play particularly well and achieve results. That’s what it takes to move up this league.”

Craig believes any side that can put together a good run of results can seize second place. “From second to about ninth or tenth, any team that can string together a handful of victories can take off,” he said. “Even with a couple of draws, they may find themselves maybe not catching on to Celtic’s coat-tails but making a competitive surge and we all know the prize that is at stake.”

Hibernian have not beaten Inverness in almost two years but Collins is full of optimism. “Inverness are on a good run but if we play as well as we are capable of playing and at a high tempo then I will be confident,” the Hibernian manager said. “It’s a huge game for us after beating Hearts and we have to have that attitude.”

Aberdeen, now fourth, face Motherwell at Pittodrie and Jimmy Calderwood has Europe firmly on his agenda, even if it is just the Uefa Cup place. “Success for some clubs is measured at different levels,” the manager said. “Kilmarnock and Inverness are being praised for doing well at the moment, but we are above both of them.

“Hibernian were also described as brilliant at times last season, but we were only two points behind them in the end. It’s up to us to start forcing people to talk about Aberdeen in a positive way again. There has been plenty of talk about Aberdeen not being very good.

“But have been good enough to get up to fourth so far and I know we are capable of going even higher. Beating Motherwell would really hammer that home. Our matches at Pittodrie are the ones that will decide if we stay in the hunt for European places. We have 12 to go and if we were to get 36 points out of those we would take some stopping. Winning all 12 is a tough target to set but I believe my players are good enough. It’s now up to them to show they believe it as well.”

Charlie Christie, the Inverness manager, believes the confidence his players have gained from an eight-game unbeaten run can carry them through a series of difficult fixtures. Caledonian Thistle have not suffered defeat in the Premierleague since losing 4-1 drubbing at Hearts on August 26.

After the trip to Hibernian, the Highland side face Celtic and Hearts in quick succession. “Against Aberdeen, our players showed a real endeavour to go and win the game midway through the second half and that is something I told them I was really pleased to see. Last season, if that game was goalless with 20 minutes still to play, then we would have accepted the result and the change is down to self-belief and mental attitude.”

Taken from timesonline.co.uk