Scottish Premiership top six race: Who will miss out from Hibs, Dundee Utd, Ross County, Aberdeen, St Mirren, Livingston and Motherwell?

There is plenty within Scottish football which splits opinion. None more so than the split in the Premiership.

There are those naysayers who believe such a mechanism makes a mockery of the country’s top-flight and even more so this season as seven teams who are separated by four points chase three spots with two games to go.

Teams are going to miss out on the chance to still qualify for Europe, they groan. Teams in the bottom six can finish on more points than the top six, they whine.

It adds an extra layer of excitement and with two rounds of fixtures remaining after the international break we look at the current state of affairs and try to predict how it will finish.

The scenes which greeted Marc McNulty's very late winner for Tam Courts’ men at St Mirren before the break were jubilant. It was a huge goal in the context of the race for the top six. It put United in the driving seat to land one of the spots.

That confidence shone through when the club announced ticket details for the upcoming Dundee derby at Tannadice. A tweet read “what could be the final Dundee Derby of the season!” Home tickets are now sold out.

They are a different team when the likes of Tony Watt and Dylan Levitt are fit with Ilmari Niskanen providing thrust from wide. Defensively they don’t give up much either. They go to Hibs next knowing a win will secure a place in the top half but with Dundee as their other opponents it would be a huge surprise if they dropped lower than sixth.

Despite the fact they are battling to finish fourth and for a place in the Scottish Cup final, there is the sense that it is about getting to the summer when Maloney can put his own stamp on the team. The team are not playing in the image of their new manager, or at