Aberdeen have a simple and straightforward task at Pittodrie on Saturday: beat Motherwell and, no matter what the other hopefuls do, a Premiership top-six place is assured.
Given where they were after the first few months of the campaign, it might not seem like much of an achievement, but after the slump to end all slumps through the winter, it was beginning to look as if they were destined for the bottom half of the table.
Those fears were allayed somewhat by the back-to-back wins over Dundee and Kilmarnock to end the painful run of 14 without a victory.
But the two draws, and largely sub-par performances, which followed were evidence the team have yet to really kick-on again.
The Dons are still favourites to finish above the cut line, but with Ross County away and Rangers at home still to come before the split, there is little room for error.
The fact Motherwell play Hearts on match-day 33 helps, but if Aberdeen lose this weekend, the pressure really will be on.
Failure to make the top six would be entirely unacceptable.
My expectation is that will not happen, and they can then focus on finishing as high as possible – targeting the European places.
There is, of course, the backstop of the Scottish Cup, but with Celtic likely to be in the final, winning that competition, and the guarantee of group stage football, will be a tall order, even if Aberdeen dispose of Hearts in the semi.
For now, it has to be full focus on Motherwell, and after being given some time off during the international break, it is to be hoped the players are all fired-up and ready for the run-in.
The only plus to emerge from the last outing at McDiarmid Park was the clean sheet – just the sixth in 30 Premiership outings this season. Two of those have come in the last four games, which offers hope, but the spell also included shipping five in what was a comical defensive performance at Celtic Park.
The back line has been an issue throughout the campaign, and getting it right in the remaining eight matches will go a long way towards determining the Dons’ fate.
They will also have to be more clinical at the other end of the pitch than they were in Perth last time out.
Viewed across the board, Jimmy Thelin’s first season has been decent enough – certainly an improvement on the dismal 2023-24 showing – and there might yet be a successful conclusion, but that will depend largely on what will be a massive 90 minutes at Pittodrie.
Scotland’s Greek tragedy brought back memories of earlier horror run
Just when, as Scotland fans, we began to think there might be reason to start believing again, the roof caved in on us at Hampden Park last weekend!
Dropping down to the second tier of the Nations League is no great disaster, it will be a more forgiving environment, and it may even be beneficial when it comes to future play-offs.
But the manner of the loss to Greece was acutely alarming.
Having taken a narrow lead in the first leg, the Scots capitulated at the national stadium, and the Greeks found it all too easy to play through a static midfield and defence.
The display brought back painful memories of the capitulations at both Euro 2020 and 24, and the horrible run of one win in 16 which straddled the latter tournament.
It also suggested the recent revival was perhaps merely a temporary reprieve.
It is now almost 18 months since Scotland began Euro 24 qualifying with five successive victories.
Twenty matches have been played during that time, and while there have been some decent performances and a few notable results, overall, it quite simply has not been good enough.
Steve Clarke has two June friendlies before World Cup qualifying gets under way in September with a trip to face Denmark.
That gives the manager just 180 minutes to get the team back on track before taking on the Danes, Greece and Belarus.
If he fails to find the answer, our long wait for a seat at the top table of world football will be extended yet further.
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