When will Scottish Premiership post split fixtures be released and possible outcomes for Hearts and Hibs

Hearts and Hibs know where they stand going into the final five games of the Premiership season.

It’s the bottom six for the Jambos, after missing two chances to get into the top six. A 1-0 loss against Dundee United was followed up with a stalemate at Motherwell to allow St Mirren into the top half at their expense, fans showing their frustrations at full time. European football can’t be obtained by the league format now and Hearts must win the Scottish Cup to obtain a route to the league phases, facing Aberdeen at the semi final stage next week.

Hibs will be in the top six and will hope to finish third amid a 16-game unbeaten run. For that to happen, they need Celtic to win the Scottish Cup so they’ll also have an eye on the nation’s premier knockout competition alongside their own objectives. Here’s what we know about what may happen post split.

When will the fixtures be released?

League chiefs will get to work straight away on the schedule, even ahead of Aberdeen vs Rangers and Hibs vs Dundee, with no possible movement in and out the halves of the table possible. The Scotsman report that Tuesday, April 15th, is the date when league chiefs will be in a position to make an announcement over fixtures. The SPFL will do what they can to ensure an even split of home and away matches but it is not always possible. Broadcast demands and police also need factored in.

Possible Hibs fixtures

In one possible scenario where St Mirren got the top six, it is likely an imbalance is thrown up for the Buddies and Hibs. St Mirren are likely to play 20 away and 18 at home with Hibs going to Paisley for a third time this season to ensure every other team plays 19 home and 19 away. Leaving the fixtures as

Rangers and Dundee United (H)

St Mirren, Celtic, Aberdeen (A)

Possible Hearts fixtures

In the bottom six, the only team impacted by an imbalance in one scenario is Motherwell, who may have to play 18 games at home with 20 away while the rest play an even split of 19 a piece. That would leave Hearts’ fixtures looking like...

St Johnstone, Motherwell, Dundee (H)

Kilmarnock, Ross County (A)

Critchley said of missing out on the top half: “It's not just on Saturday. You've got to look at other performances and other games that we could’ve got something from. Under normal circumstances, you'd probably say a 0-0, a clean sheet, a point away from home is O.K. But not on Saturday. We weren't good enough. We’ve a really big game next week and five league games where we need to win as many games as possible.”

Matchday dates

Gameweek 34 - The weekend of April 26.

Gameweek 35 - The weekend of May 3.

Gameweek 36 - The weekend of May 10

Gameweek 37 - May 13/14,

Gameweek 38 - May 17 (top six matches) and May 18 (bottom six matches)