Hibs top six spot guaranteed after latest round of fixtures as David Gray's men assured of post-split place

Fraser Murray’s late goal for Kilmarnock on Saturday may have cost Hibs two points on the road but results elsewhere mean that just a draw was enough to help then reach a major milestone in the 2024/25 season.

David Gray’s side are the first club outside of Celtic and Rangers to guarantee themselves a place in the top six when the split comes around next month. With just three rounds of Scottish Premiership fixtures to go, it is now mathematically impossible for the Easter Road side to finish any lower than sixth place this season.

Third place will be the ultimate goal but the fact they have reached this achievement ahead of Aberdeen, Dundee United and Edinburgh rivals Hearts is testament to their impressive form in recent months. Although they are only six points ahead of seventh place Motherwell at this moment, the combination of fixtures to come means they cannot be displaced from the top half of the table.

How Hibs have secured top six finish with three games to go before split

None of Kilmarnock, Dundee and St Johnstone can overtake Hibs before the split and neither of the Tayside clubs can reach the top six with Killie only having a very long shot. Ross County, St Mirren, Motherwell, Hearts, Dundee United and Aberdeen could each theoretically overtake the Hibees but it would take four out of the six to all do it for them to drop as low as seventh place which is mathematically impossible at this stage.

That is because of the way the final three rounds of pre-split fixtures have fallen. Several of the matches see the top six contenders facing off with each other meaning that both can not pick up maximum points on offer. Here are the remaining pre-split fixtures where sides who have not secured a top six spot but still can will face each other:

Matchday 31

• Aberdeen vs Motherwell
• Ross County vs Dundee United
• St Mirren vs Kilmarnock

Matchday 32

• Kilmarnock vs Motherwell
• Ross County vs Aberdeen
• Hearts vs Dundee United

Matchday 33

• St Mirren vs Ross County
• Motherwell vs Hearts

Even if Hibs lose all three of their remaining matches that would leave them on 44 points ahead of the split. Although Aberdeen, Dundee United, Hearts and Motherwell can overtake that total and St Mirren and Ross County could equal it and theoretically overtake Hibs on goal difference there is no scenario where a total of the four clubs required to do so would all be able to.

Don’t just take our word for it as the actual numbers themselves are a bit tough for the human brain to crunch. Football statistics site Opta have put the data through their supercomputer with the BBC publishing the results which show there is no possible percentage chance of Hibs finishing any lower than sixth place.

When is the Scottish Premiership split? Dates confirmed as fixtures awaited

The final round of regular season fixtures take places on April 12. Here are the dates set out by the SPFL for the post split fixtures which will be confirmed once the standings have been finalised:

• April 26th/27th
• May 3rd/4th
• May 10th/11th
• May 13th/14th
• May 17th/18th