When is the Scottish Premiership split? How many game do Hibs have left and what they need to secure top six

The Scottish Premiership split fixtures are on the horizon. Here is what Nick Montgomery and his Hibs side must do to ensure a top six position.

How many points to Hibs need to secure a top six place in the Scottish Premiership?Cr. SNS Group.

The split is on the horizon in the Scottish Premiership and while the likes of Rangers, Celtic and Hearts know they will be battling it out in the top six, Hibs immediate future is still in the air with a number of teams fighting it out for the desired sixth place finish.

A number of clubs are separated by the smallest of margins heading into the final league fixtures before the split and while Nick Montgomery's side currently occupy the sixth position, we look at what they must do to ensure they are still in that position come April 13.

When is the Scottish Premiership split? When are the Scottish Premiership split fixtures?

The first match in the post split will take place on the weekend of April 27/28 and will then see games played on May 4/5, May 11/12, May 14/15 before the top-six will conclude their respective domestic league seasons with a final fixture on Saturday 18 May. A 12.30pm kick-off time across the board has been confirmed.

Scottish Premiership fixture dates will be played as follows:

Fixture 34 - Weekend of April 27/28

Fixture 35 - Weekend of May 4/5

Fixture 36 - Weekend of May 11/12

Fixture 37 - Midweek of May 14/15

Fixture 38 - Weekend of May 18/19

How many game do Hibs have left? What are Hibs leagues fixtures before the split?

At the time of writing, Nick Montgomery's Hibees have five more games left to prior to the Scottish Premiership split in April with three of those games coming away from Easter Road.

The first of those away games arrives this Wednesday (March 13) as they travel north to take on struggling Ross County at Dingwall. Next Saturday (March 16) they welcome bottom of the table Livingston to Leith.

Hibs remaining games are as follows:

• Wednesday March 13 - Ross County (A)

• Saturday March 16 - Livingston (H)

• Saturday March 30 - Rangers (A)

• Saturday April 6 - St Johnstone (H)

• Saturday April 13 - Motherwell (A)

Who are Hibs biggest challengers for top six place?

While Kilmarnock and St Mirren in fourth and fifth are both able to be caught mathematically, they have a seven and eight point lead on Hibs - so realistically, the spaces above them are taken to leave Hibs in a battle solely for that remaining sixth place.

The Easter Road outfit are currently in sixth on 34 points but have a list of teams looking to overtake them below.

So, who will be Hibs main challengers for sixth place? The positions between sixth all the way down to 11th are tight, with Dundee just one point behind Hibs on 33 points, while Motherwell are in eighth on 32 points. In ninth are St Johnstone but they are a full six points behind Hibs on 28 points - so it would take a big effort from Craig Levein's side to take that sixth spot. The same would apply to 10th placed Aberdeen who are on 27 points.

The current table is as follows:

4th - St Mirren (42 points, GD: +2)

5th - Kilmarnock (41 points, GD: +3)

6th - Hibs (34 points, GD: -7)

7th - Dundee (33 points, GD: -11)

8th - Motherwell (32 points, GD: -5)

9th - St Johnstone (28 points, GD: -18)

10th - Aberdeen (27 points, GD: -15)

How many points do Hibs need to secure a top six place?

If you want a bit of a historical pointer for what the points threshold is likely to be to make the top six, a look at the last five full Scottish Premiership campaign (excluded the postponed Covid season that was shortened), the average points requirement to make the top six after 33 games was 44 points.

So, if Hibs were to pick up a further three wins and a draw from their remaining five games it should secure that top six point with room to spare.

In theory, Dundee have the best chance of catching Hibs with Tony Docherty's side just one point behind and having played the same amount of games (28) as the Hibees. Mathematically, Hibs require 15 points to guarantee a top sixth finish (or they need to win all five games if you prefer) or to match the results of Dundee/Motherwell to secure a top six finish.

Those 15 points would only be required for the top six if Dundee or Motherwell win all over their remaining games (including Motherwell's clash with Hibs on April 13), which would take a real effort for both and is highly unlikely.

A big game to keep an eye on is Dundee's clash with Motherwell on April 6. If that game was to end in a draw, the points Hibs would require will be less than 15 regardless of of Dundee's results against Aberdeen and Rangers this week and Motherwell's game with Aberdeen on Saturday.

So, in essence, Hibs require 15 points at the time of writing to mathematically guarantee a top six spot but in reality, they just need to match the points haul of Dundee/Motherwell, if we assume both Aberdeen and St Johnstone are too far gone in the race for sixth.