Fourth place meets fifth place in this winner takes all fixture. Whoever comes out on top in this fixture will take the Fourth spot for themselves. Whoever looses could if other results go against them be as low as seventh in the Scottish Premier League.

Mark McGhee will be confident even though this is an away match, because so far this season his side have done much better away from home, having lost only one of their four games so far on their travels. He also has the added confidence of holding the mighty Ranger’s to a draw in their last game so traveling to Dundee will hold no fears for the Motherwell manager and his team.

With Chris Porter scoring regularly expect him to be one of the definite starts in the line up as McGhee tries to stay with a consistent line up which has paid dividends so far this season.

Dundee United manager Craig Levein will be expecting much better from his side after some indifferent performances of late. His attacking players seem to have forgotten why they are in the team in the last few games with Noel Hunt having some quiet games after starting the season in a confident manner.

If Dundee are to press for the top spots then the whole team needs to pick up their performances again and this live football match should give them an idea of where they are as they entertain the team just below them.

Hearts have started to play with a great deal more confidence in their last few games and have earned the wins even if they came with controversy. Their home form still remains unconvincing but assistant manager Steven Frail will hope that with the visit of strugglers Falkirk they can improve on their one win, one draw and one loss as they look to climb further up the table.

If the Hearts players are able to earn the three points from this match then they are most likely to be elevated up to sixth place. This may not sound too good but looking at the team a few weeks ago they would never have believed they could be in the positive situation they are now.

It is hard to know what has changed with Hearts to change their fortunes, but most definitely the reports surrounding interference from above has settled now and coincide with the improvements that fans who come to watch live football are witnessing.

Falkirk in contrast are still going backwards despite trying to play themselves out of trouble.

The problem for their manager John Hughes is that although the goals are being scored at or above the rate of the other clubs from fourth place down, they are also conceding goals at an alarming rate. Only the bottom club Gretna has an even worse goals against record and this is were Hughes must sort things out if they are to make any progress.

In Tim Krul Falkirk have a good keeper but the performances of the defenders have really let him down and contributed to the position they find themselves in.

After a defeat to Inverness in their last match Falkirk will need to gather themselves for an equally hard live football match against a home side who have regained some form and will be looking forward to the game.

Despite their position Hughes seems intent on playing attacking football so expect at least two recognized strikers in the team as he try’s to get his team to score more goals than they concede.

Kilmarnock manager Jim Jeffries is still wondering how on earth to instill some consistency into his team as they go into another match having failed to take three points. Thankful for their good start to the season which has held them in the top half of the table for most of the season so far, they play host to a side which is high on confidence after a few great results and a move off the bottom of the Scottish Premier League.

With Craig Brewster seemingly having brought some much needed good luck and a boost for morale this should make an entertaining contest. Kilmarnock have no doubt been suffering from a great many injuries and indeed had to call off training before their last domestic game as they feared another injury would leave them with no team to full fill their weekend fixture.

Thankfully Colin Nish seems to have overcome his injury and scored at the weekend but Jeffries knows that he needs a further half dozen players back before he can look to having a good squad to choose from. At least at home he has the advantage of a home crowd who will come to watch live football and can only hope that they can lift the players to compete against the visitors.

With the improvement in fortunes Craig Brewster will most likely leave Denis Wyness in the starting line up after a fine performance in their last game which saw him score two of the four goals which lifted Inverness off the bottom of the table.

The amount of games that Rangers are playing at the present time may be adding to the

Blips in their normal dominance over teams that has been seen for most of the season, however they are starting to loose points most recently in their last fixture when they could only draw against Motherwell in a very lack luster game.

With a game during mid week in the Champions League Rangers will yet again have only a few days to recover before an important fixture as they take on the team below them.

Although the faithful fans who fill Ibrox to watch live football will expect to see a Rangers win, the games they are playing may mean that even though they have a strong squad that the result is not a certainty. Especially against Hibernian who have the only unbeaten record in the Scottish Premier League.

Walter Smith will need to wait the result in Lyon before naming his squad but Boyd and Naismith would seem the natural choice for the forward line up as he try’s to keep everyone happy. Both have shown themselves capable when asked to take their chance up front and both will be respected by the visitors.

Hibernian have seen their position grow stronger as they have dug deep in hard games to earn a point or take all three and there will be no harder fixture to prove themselves in than away to Ranger’s.

Obviously Clayton Donaldson is the man to watch and the Rangers defenders certainly will be following the hat-trick he scored in his last game. The good thing from manager John Collins point of view is that it is the team effort which is reaping the rewards rather than individual performances. The defence especially led by keeper Ma-Kalambay has allowed the players to go forward looking for goals with the confidence that the players at the back can cope with any counter. In this live football match it is not so much the counter, rather the outright attack that Hibernian will face from Rangers and will provide a good test as to how good they actually are.

Sunday 7^th October

Jimmy Calderwood should still be the manager at the start of this fixture, but whether he is after the match remains to be seen as Pittodrie entertains fellow strugglers St Mirren. Strangely St Mirren are below Aberdeen, but their manager Gus MacPherson has had little in outright calls for his head in the press, unlike the Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood.

For most onlookers the difference would be that the quality of the Aberdeen side should have them challenging at the top rather than under performing at the bottom of the table. The Aberdeen players seem to keep shooting themselves in the foot as they continue to give the ball away to easily and allow teams to attack them resulting in the inevitable goals conceded.

St Mirren with no disrespect intended do not have the same quality on paper as their opponents but as those who will have seen when they watch live football the team have been unlucky on occasion and have a fighting spirit despite their position. With Mehmet

Their only recognized striker fit enough to take to the field for the team the same problem remains in the lack of goals scored.

If Aberdeen play to their strengths then they should be able to take the three points from the game, but should they loose or even draw against the visitors then the future for Calderwood as the manager of Aberdeen will be in jeopardy.

The next easy game for Gretna as they look to stay in the Scottish Premier League is against the current Champions Celtic at Fir Park. Having had a torrid time in their fixtures so far, Gretna long since realised that there are no easy matches in the top league and the days of them winning week in week out are a distant memory which they will be hoping they do not return to at the end of the season.

Manger David Irons will try to get the message across that in previous games where they have suffered a defeat they have allowed the opposition to take the advantage and create chances which have led to early goals. This in turn makes heads drop and fans become disheartened for the fight to get back into games.

With Celtic having a mid week game in the Champions League Irons will hope that the line up will have newcomers included which will take time to settle and give his team a chance to establish themselves.

Gretna have no doubt played attacking football all season but must learn to sit and ride out the storms as other teams dominate for periods during matches. Gretna have shown they will create chances but need to wait their turn and then make sure they convert a healthy average into goals.

Yantorno and McMenamin may well start up front again whilst Fleming will once again step into the seemingly constantly under fire goal mouth.

For Celtic Gordon Strachan will wait until after the midweek game to assess the fitness of his players but one player who will almost certainly be missing is Vennegoor of Hesselink who is suffering from a ham string problem.

Despite this Strachan has options to choose from and will view this match as a must win to keep the pressure on Rangers who they are level with on points, but lead through their superior goal difference.