Five Games. One Winner: Post-Split fixtures announced

Heart of Midlothian and Celtic may find themselves battling for the Premiership trophy on the final weekend of the season in Glasgow on Saturday, 16 May, following the release of the post-split fixture list by the SPFL. Once this weekend’s 33rd matches are completed, the Premiership will separate into two groups of six. Rangers remain firmly involved, making it a three-way contest for the title. The final Celtic–Rangers meeting, with the champions hosting, has been scheduled for Sunday, 10 May, three rounds before the end of the campaign. Hearts kick off their post-split run with an away Edinburgh derby against Hibernian on Sunday, 26 April. Derek McInnes’ squad, whose lead over Rangers shrank to a single point last weekend, are set to welcome the Ibrox side on Monday, 4 May. Rangers will conclude their league season with a third trip to Falkirk. Due to a fixture imbalance, stemming from expectations that Falkirk would finish in the bottom six, the club has ended up with one additional home match compared to the rest. In the bottom half of the table, five sides remain in danger of relegation. The last round of bottom-six matches is set for Sunday, 17 May, when Dundee host Aberdeen, Kilmarnock travel to Livingston, and St Mirren face Dundee United at home. After this weekend, the Premiership will pause for a two-week international break before returning on 25 April. On that date, Celtic play Falkirk in the top half, while Aberdeen host Kilmarnock and Livingston head to St Mirren. The following day, Rangers take on Motherwell, and Dundee United meet Dundee in the final city derby of the season. The remaining post-split fixtures will take place over the weekends of 2-3 May and 9-10 May, along with midweek matches on 12-13 May. The top-six schedule wraps up on 16 May, followed by the bottom-six finale on 17 May.

Relegation Battle: Could Aberdeen be in the chance of relegation?

It’s been a poor season for the Dons as relegation is becoming a high chance as the Dons begin to really struggle. Aberdeen who sit 9th, joint 10th with St Mirren and just three points ahead of Kilmarnock seem to be in real danger with near enough no confidence in the Aberdeen squad and St Mirren starting to pick up form with Kilmarnock looking slightly better, this may be Aberdeen’s time over. Most the chats been about the entertaining title race going on at the top, but one of Scotland’s biggest teams may be set to be within the chance of Championship football next season. As of late, it’s been nothing but a disappointment in the Granite City with just one league win in 2026 which came against bottom of the league, Livingston after a 6-2 victory. The Dons have only won once in their last 10 – a 2-0 win in the Scottish Cup over Motherwell but were later denied a spot at Hampden against Dunfermline. To dive deeper into some stats, in the last 48 points which were available to Aberdeen, the Dons only picked up six. As well as that, Aberdeen have only scored once on the road this year with their last away win being at the start of December. Livingston who have only won once all season, have picked up more points (7) than Aberdeen (5) in their last 15 matches. Aberdeen’s last win against one of the top-six sides was all the way back in November – a 1-0 win over league leaders Hearts. The Pittodrie side also haven’t won a game in the last eight attempts and have conceded in all of their last six as Aberdeen enter the final hurdle this season. So Aberdeen haven’t had the manager bounce they had hoped for under Stephen Robinson in which Robinson has only picked up one point so far in charge which came against Falkirk. Next up for the Dons is a home match against Hibernian which will be nothing but a tough test to come. For other sides within the relegation spots, St Mirren travel to Celtic and Kilmarnock host Dundee at Rugby Park. Can Aberdeen avoid any relegation fears or will they grab that 11th spot with Livingston looking likely to grab that bottom spot?

“He wasn’t going to contribute to us staying up” – Robinson on Nilsen’s departure

Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson said “He wasn’t [Nilsen] going to contribute to us staying up” in a recent interview as the Dons aim to fight off relegation. Stephen Robinson came out to say if Sivert Heltne Nilsen was to stay at Pittodrie, the Norwegian wouldn’t have been able to contribute to staying up which has gained some disappointment by the Aberdeen support with Robinson also claiming it would be “unfair” to let Nilsen depart. Nilsen departed the Dons a couple of weeks ago to return to Norway during a time which has been really difficult for Aberdeen as the midfielder left for FK Haugesund. The 34-year-old made 56 appearances in Red, scoring just two goals for the Pittodrie side. Many Aberdeen fans have shown disappointment due to the timing of the departure as Nilsen left during a very fragile moment as Aberdeen continue to try and avoid the drop in which was been a horrendous past few months in the Granite City. Robinson said: “Let me first say, Sivert is a great boy. I loved working with him for that short period of time. “(But) Sivert hasn’t played a game for… I think he’s started one game in months and months and months, so he wasn’t an integral part of the squad. “He got a four-year contract and a coaching offer, which was nearly a seven-year contract. “He made it very, very clear he wanted to go home. “And sometimes you have to be fair in life. “And if he wasn’t going to contribute to us staying up in terms of the pitch minutes – and previous suggests he wasn’t going to do that – I think it would have been very, very unfair to say ‘you can stay there and maybe not even be on the bench at stages’. “So yes, I believe that was the right decision.” Aberdeen appear to not have many older faces and experience which Nilsen had as the Norwegian was one of the older players within the squad although Robinson is known for playing the youth during in time in Paisley. After being questioned on whether Aberdeen need to look into some more experienced faces: “There’s a little bit of disparity in the squad, of course. “That’s not something I can focus on right now. I have to get the best I possibly can out of what’s available. “And then we’ll worry about it in the summer. “But yes, I certainly take your point on that, yes. “Well, we do that anyway.”  

Celtic leave it late to defeat 10-man Dundee to keep title hopes alive

A late goal by Iheanacho keeps the Celtic title dream alive as Hearts slip up in Lothian and the gap to just three points. Celtic with an early chance as Daizen Maeda flashed a ball across the box but no on there to take it as a big chance goes missing for the visitors. Martin O’Neil’s men were ahead after 8 minutes as Tierney whipped a low cross into the box with McCracken dealing with the initial chance but eventually landed at Yang who made no mistake as he scoops the ball in. Following sloppy play by the hosts, Cvancara tried his luck from distance but fired well over to deny a second. Celtic on 21 minutes had another huge chance as Nygren fired a ball across the goal-mouth but Yang unable to tap it in after stretching fully but unable to connect. Maeda soon after had a darting run goal bound but his strike from distance was stopped by the leg of the Dundee number one after Nygren playing a great ball. A mistake by Dundee allowed Cvancara through on goal with a darting run towards McCracken where the striker struck the ball but only finding the post in a chance he really had to score. Celtic continued to cause issues as Nygren picked up the ball on the edge of the box, slotted to Cvancara but was a simple stop for the Dundee man in goal. Moments later, youngster Colby Donovan unleashed one from distance but just a bit too high to cause any real problems. A poor first 45 by the hosts as they struggled to test Sinisalo at all where Celtic have looked miles better than the hosts as they go into the break ahead and well deserved. Into the second period, Celtic should have had two as Nygren squared the ball to Cvancara who took an extra touch which killed off any chance of getting the second of the afternoon. 10 minutes into the second half, Dundee were awarded a spot kick following handball with captain Simon Murray dispatched striking it into the bottom left-hand corner to put Dundee back on level terms. Celtic had a chance after the hour mark, Tierney on the left-flank who whipped the ball in which Yang’s header was tipped over by McCracken. Celtic were ahead late on after substitute Saracchi crossed the ball in as Iheanacho connected well and struck the ball into the back of the net from close range. Dundee were moments later reduced to ten as Astley was shown red following a last man challenge as it went all wrong for the Dees. Iheanacho almost had the third but a brilliant block by the substitute Koumetio denied their third. A big win on the road for Celtic as they tighten the gap at the top to just three points as the title race heats up for the final six games. Dundee: McCracken(6), Wright (6), Astley (6), Halliday (6), Graham (8), Congreve (7), Yogane (7), Dhanda (6), Hamilton (6), Robertson (7), Murray (7). Substitutes: Hay (6), Cotterill (6), Wright (6), Koumetio (6), Reilly (6). Celtic: Sinisalo (6), Scales (6), Donovan (6), Tierney (6), Trusty (6), McGregor (6), Yang (7), Maeda (6), Nygren (7), Oxlade-Chamberlain (7), Cvancara (6). Substitutes: Iheanacho (7), Ralston (6), McCowan (6), Saracchi (6), Forrest (6).

Scotland 0- 1 Japan: Dull Display from Scots as winless Hampden friendly run continues.

Scotland remain 10 years without a friendly victory at Hampden after an uninspiring performance in cagey game against Japan. Scotland host Japan at Hampden Park for the first time in history in a World Cup warm-up match for this summer’s tournament. The nations have only faced three times before, with two 0-0 draws and Japan coming out 2-0 winners in 2009. Manager Steve Clarke makes changes for this squad, as Kilmarnock loanee Findlay Curtis gets his first callup to the senior squad, while Ros McCrorie is also in the squad since making his international debut two years ago. This is Scotland’s first match since their stunning 4-2 victory against Denmark four months ago. Scotland fans will of course be familiar while Japan’s Daizen Maeda, who was PFA Scotland Players’ Player of the Year for Celtic last season, and has seven league goals for the club this season. Other players include Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma and Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada, who featured in Eintracht Frankfurt’s Europa League final victory against Rangers in 2022. Japan is on a four-match unbeaten run, which includes a 3-2 win against Brazil last October in Tokyo. First Half The first half kicked off under the Hampden sun, with Scotland wearing their newly released away kit. The half started with early pressure from Japan, as four minutes into the game an early shot from captain Maeda was blocked by the Scotland defence. Only four minutes later however, Scotland mustered their first attack. McGinn raced down the right-hand side, and his low cross was met by McTominay, who looked like he would convert the chance, but a save by Zion Suzuki bounced off the post and onto the goal line and was cleared by the Japanese defence. The next chance would come midway through the half as Kodai Sano’s shot from outside the box went straight into the hands of Angus Gunn. Keisuke Goto’s blocked shot also failed to find the target after a Japan corner. Ao Tanaka would see his chance rattle off the crossbar just after the half hour mark, as Japan continued their control of the game without really testing Gunn in the Scotland goal. Five minutes later, good passing play from Japan put Yuito Suzuki in a threatening area, but his shot also went straight to Angus Gunn to collect. Just before halftime, Scotland would get up the pitch from left to right, as Conway’s cross flew to Patterson, who delivered a floated cross to McTominay, but his glancing header failed to threaten Suzuki who easily collected. Gunn also handled a chance by defender Watanabe, as the referee blew the whistle for halftime. Second Half Japan made three half time changes whilst Steve Clarke opted to field the same eleven. Early in the half Scotland moved the ball around well, and captain Andy Robertson looped a cross into McTominay, who once again was unable to find the target. Japan’s fast counterattack saw substitute Junnosuke Suzuki’s shot fall straight into Gunn’s hands. Scotland looked to attack; however, Scott McTominay was brought down by Fujita just outside the Japan box. McTominay’s freekick was then tipped over the bar by Suzuki. A great solo run by Andy Robertson down the left-hand side saw his shot from a narrow angle saved by Suzuki for a Scotland corner. On the hour mark, Scotland made their first changes as John McGinn and Lyndon Dykes made way for Ryan Christie and George Hirst Daizen Maeda also exited the field of play, still unable to shake off a season of struggle at club level. Following a Japan corner, the ball fell to substitute Mitoma on the edge of the box, but his shot flashed just wide of the post. Only a few minutes later, Junya Ito found the ball deep into the Scotland box, turning Lewis Ferguson and forcing a good save out of Angus Gunn for Japan’s best chance of the game. Japan once again showed good passing play as Mitoma raced down the left-hand side and looped the ball over Gunn, however Denmark hero Kenny McLean was there to make the clearance. Steve Clarke made more changes as captain Robertson and McTominay came off for Kieran Tierney and Billy Gilmour. Tierney showed good awareness to intercept a potential Japanese attack, and played a good ball into George Hirst, whose shot went wide into the side netting. Only a minute later Conway was brought down by Doan for a freekick deep into Japanese territory, but the Scots were unable to make it count. Into the final ten minutes of the game, Anthony Ralston entered the pitch for Nathan Patterson, whilst Conway made way for Findlay Curtis, who made his full international debut. Only a few minutes later, Japan finally broke the deadlockwith good play as the ball fell to Junya Ito, who bundled shot slid past Angus Gunn to make it 1-0 to the visitors with less than ten minutes remaining. This was the Genk man’s 15international goal. Scotland failed to threaten in the final minutes of the match, as the game fizzled out for a 1-0 victory to Japan. Following this result, Japan extended their unbeaten run to five, as they next face a Wembley visit to play England. Meanwhile, Scotland’s ten-year winless run in friendly home games continues. They next travel to the Hill Dickinson Stadium for their friendly match against Ivory Coast on Tuesday, as the continue preparations for summer’s tournament.   Scotland: Gunn (7), Patterson (7), Hendry (6), McKenna (6), Robertson (6), Ferguson (6), McLean (6), McGinn (6), McTominay (7), Conway (5), Dykes (5) Subs: Hirst (5), Christie (5), Gilmour (6), Tierney (7), Ralston(6), Curtis (6) Japan: Z. Suzuki (8), Seko (6), Watanabe (8), Ito (7), Sugawara (6), Fujita (7), Tanaka (7), Maeda (c) (6), Y. Suzuki(7), Sano (7), Goto (6) Subs: Taniguchi (6), J. Suzuki (6), Mitoma (8), Nakamura (7), Doan (6), Ueda (7), Ito (9), Hashioka (6), Shiogai (8), Kamada (7)

Simo Valakari suggests there’s ’no disappointment’ following yesterday’s draw with Queens Park.

Simo Valakari was showing no signs of being disappointed despite his side failing to extend the gap at the top to 5 points. Yesterday afternoon, St Johnstone and Queens Park fought out a 1-1 draw in the Perth sunshine as relentless St Johnstone were unable to find the winner in the latter stages. Following the draw, Valakari came out to say: “we will accept just this one point” after failing to get back to winning ways as they claimed back-to-back draws. He added: “No angriness, no bitterness, no frustration, no disappointment” as he was keen to show he wasn’t feeling beat up by the missed opportunity to extend the gap. The gap is now at just three point between St Johnstone and second placed Partick Thistle with the Saints on their travels next week as they make the journey to Arbroath – the team who were the first to beat them in the Championship this season. Valakari also said “it [the 1 point] was all we deserved today” as St Johnstone, who had numerous amount of chances to go and see off Queen’s Park, St Johnstone just couldn’t find the back of the net despite some solid defending by the visitors. Partick Thistle travel to Ayr in their next match as the title race ramps up with an emphatic title race going down to the wire.

Sivert Heltne Nilsen to depart Aberdeen as a Norway return is on the cards

Nilsen is set to complete a move away from Scotland this International break as a switch back to Norway looks likely. Sources in Norway have been suggesting Sivert is on the varge of joining Norwegian side, FK Haugesund ahead of the Norwegian transfer window shutting on Tuesday next week ahead of the season in Norway beginning on the 6th of April. Nilsen joined Aberdeen under former boss, Jimmy Thelin in 2024, joining the Reds’ from Brann where the midfielder originally played under Jimmy during their time in Sweden as Elfsborg. The midfielder missed Aberdeen’s famous Scottish Cup Final victory over Celtic at the summit of last season after picking up a strange eye injury in a training incident which kept the 34-year-old out for some time. Nilsen has been used as a centre-back on multiple occasions as Aberdeen try and battle the injury crisis at the back with most recently playing part at the back in their 2-1 defeat to Celtic at the beginning of March. Nilsen has made 56 appearances for Aberdeen, playing under three bosses during his time – Jimmy Thelin, Peter Leven and Stephen Robinson. The Norwegian International has picked up just two goals during his time in Scotland which both came this season. Nilsen has had some tough competition this season with many arrivals in midfield with the likes of Aremu, Cameron, Geiger all joining the club with the likes of Shinnie and Palaversa also competing for a spot with Nilsen being a regular this season. The move to Haugesund will move Nilsen closer to family with Haugesund being just a two-hour journey from where his live should the move away go through.

Celtic’s injury crisis: How crucial will it be in the hunt for the Scottish Premiership?

Celtic’s injury crisis just got a whole lot worse, as Colby Donovan has now withdrawn from international duty with Scotland’s U21’s after picking up an injury at Tannadice. A terrible season for injuries has got even worse for Martin O’ Neill, as he may be without many key players in the race for the Scottish Premiership. Jota has been missing the whole season, as well as Alistair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers who have been absent for majority of the campaign. Arne Engels and Callum Osmand have had their injury issues. However, the pair are expected back to action shortly. But Kasper Schmeichel’s season is officially over, and loanee right-back Julian Araujo is sidelined as well. Speaking on Araujo, O’ Neill said: “He’s down getting treatment and being rehabbed at Bournemouth. “I’m not sure when he’ll be back, but the extra two weeks could help.” And on the subjects of right-backs, Colby Donovan is the latest injury blow in the Celtic camp. Donovan has withdrawn from Scotland U21 duty, after crashing into the advertisement board at Tannadice on Sunday, which forced him to be substituted. However, it wasn’t a like for like replacement for the young Scotsman. Instead, O’Neill chose to move Reo Hatate to right-back, and later in the match moved winger Yang to the position. It’s another issue for Martin O’ Neill, but the encouragement of Alistair Johnston being called up for international duty, may well give confidence that the Canadian will be fit and able to return shortly. Will these injury blows have an impact on Celtic’s chase for the title?

Stephen Robinson looks to re-unite with former St Mirren man at Pitttodrie

Aberdeen are close to signing former St Mirren defender, Elvis Bwomono due to a defensive crisis in the Granite City. Former St Mirren man Elvin Bwomono looks set to join Aberdeen after being a trialist for Aberdeen in a bounce game against Dundee at Pittodrie yesterday – Aberdeen running out 3-0 winners. Stephen Robinson’s side are keen to sign the defender on a short-term deal until the end of season as the Dons’ look to avoid relegation. Elvis played under Robinson for two years during their time in Paisley which could become the first signing at Pittodrie under the new boss. Bwomono was a key player in the success of the top six finishes in Paisley which saw the Buddies’ return to the European stage. The former St Mirren man most recently had a spell in Iceland which ran out very recently IBV making 10 appearances for the Icelandic outfit. Elvin made 43 appearances in Paisley during his two-year spell as a return to Scotland looks likely for the defender. Aberdeen are having a crisis along the backline with Tobers and McIntrye both missing for the remainder of the season with Knoester also missing but he may return for the final 3 or 4 games in the split. Nicky Devlin is also suffering with a knee injury but may return for the final couple games leaving Stephen Robinson with just Jack Milne, Liam Morrison and Gavin Molloy as his only options in defensive areas. Bwomono is mostly suited at right-back but can also play as a centre-back as Robinson continues to look along the free agent market.  

Martin O’Neill believes Celtic aren’t out of any title race despite ‘setback’ at Tannadice

Both O’Neill and McGregor insist the title race for the Hoops’ isn’t over and that Celtic are certainly still in the title race. Celtic were defeated this afternoon at Tannadice after Dundee United scored twice in the second half to put Martin O’Neill’s men further back in their attempt to defend their title. The Glasgow side had good spells of possession but couldn’t make anything show for it, failing to test Maynard-Brewer enough as they suffered defeat in the City of Discovery. While speaking to Sky Sports, ONeill said: “In the second half we lost our way completely, the first goal was going to be vital in the game and we probably didn’t create enough and maybe we didn’t adjust in the second half to conditions but that’s taking nothing away from Dundee United – they deserved to win. “The game got away from us, that’s true. Goals win matches and we chased the game a little bit but, even so, we should have been able to do better. This was always going to be a difficult game for us, away here at Tannadice, I’ve never had an easy game here. “The game got away from us, that’s true. Goals win matches and we chased the game a little bit but, even so, we should have been able to do better. This was always going to be a difficult game for us, away here at Tannadice, I’ve never had an easy game here.” He added: “The game got away from us, that’s true. Goals win matches and we chased the game a little bit but, even so, we should have been able to do better. This was always going to be a difficult game for us, away here at Tannadice, I’ve never had an easy game here. “It is a setback at this particular time of the season and you can’t really afford to do that but we are not finished yet.” Celtic remain in third as they fail to follow-up on their rivals winning this weekend after defeat Aberdeen 4-1. Celtic now sit two points off of their fierce rivals Rangers and five point off league leaders, Hearts. A huge few weeks coming up for Martin O’Neill if they are to catch up and lift the title in May and must avoid any slip-ups in the build up to the final day.