Road to Survival

Fixtures that will determine the ability of Dunfermline Athletic to remain in the SPL

Much of the basis for the Pars' optimismic view that St Mirren can be caught, despite being 8 points clear with a game in hand, comes from the fact that eight of the last nine matches will be against teams in the bottom six.  Below is the likely fixture list assuming the bottom six remain as they currently stand.

Dunfermline have 15 points from 27 matches, St Mirren 23 points from 26 games. Goal difference favours St Mirren; they are -18, Dunfermline are -30.

When the split comes at the end of the first week in April, St Mirren will have played 17 matches at home, Dunfermline 16. It could be expected that St Mirren's two home games would be against Falkirk and Dunfermline since that completes their cycle of two home and two away games against all the bottom six.

Dunfermline's fixtures do not work out so easily. Falkirk, Inverness Caley Thistle, Dundee United and Motherwell would all be due to come to East End Park but it is unlikely that Dunfermline would be given 20 home matches. This might mean the Pars having to revisit one of the grounds where they would have already played twice.  The away match that is more or less guaranteed would be at Paisley and that could be a big one.