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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
Sport
Anthony Evans

European qualification places explained as Hearts and Hibs still in with chance in final three games

With the Premiership nearing it's conclusion, the race for European football is very much hotting up - and both sides of the Edinburgh divide are still in contention to secure one of those coveted spots.

Hearts are without a win in their last two matches, but will take confidence from last weekend's 2-2 draw away to St Mirren where interim boss Steven Naismith's men fought back from 2-0 down to claim a point at the death despite losing midfielder Peter Haring to a red card.

The Jambos remain five points behind Aberdeen who are in third place, but have the chance to narrow that gap when the Dons visit Tynecastle tomorrow. Barry Robson's men have won seven of their last nine matches, but know a tough game awaits them in Gorgie tomorrow, having been on the end of a 5-0 hammering by Hearts in the capital back in January.

READ MORE: Cammy Devlin outlines four key Hearts areas of his game to improve after Steven Naismith talks

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Lee Johnson's Hibees sit just a single point behind their city rivals, with the two teams set to meet in a mouth-watering Edinburgh Derby on the final day of the season on Saturday 27 May.

The Leith side are in decent form with two wins and two draws from their last four matches, but were left frustrated last week when they failed to find a winner up at Pittodrie against Aberdeen. Kevin Nisbet missed a late penalty as Hibs missed the chance to reduce the gap between themselves and the Reds in third to three points.

Hibs face a tough task this weekend when champions Celtic are the visitors to Easter Road, but if they were able to pull off a shock victory then they could potentially leapfrog Hearts and get into fourth spot.

It will require a bit of a capitulation for Aberdeen to relinquish third place in the final three matches of the campaign, but both Edinburgh clubs will need to take advantage should the Dons slip up.

Here is what awaits the Premiership's European hopefuls outside of the top two, and how the Scottish Cup could have a big bearing on determining whether third place will guarantee group stage football for whoever is able to claim it.

Third place

Jambos fans flocked in their number to follow their team away from home in Europe this season (SNS Group)

At the time of writing, the team that finishes third in the Premiership will enter the UEFA Europa Conference League in the third round of qualifying.

However, if Celtic were to win the Scottish Cup, that would change to the betterment of the team who finished third. Ange Postecoglou's men face Inverness in the final next month after edging out bitter rivals Rangers in the semi final.

Whoever lifts the Scottish Cup goes directly into the play-off round in qualifying for the Europa League, with just one tie to get through to reach the group stage. Should that team lose, then they will then have the safety net of the group stages of the Conference League, which rewarded Hearts handsomely in their European campaign in the first half of the current season.

As a result of league runners' up Rangers winning the Scottish Cup last season, that lucrative European place then went to the Jambos, who had finished. The Jambos lost out to Swiss side FZ Zurich in the play-off for the Europa League last August over two legs, but banked £200,000 for their involvement in the fixture.

After dropping into the Conference League, they were drawn with Fiorentina, Istanbul Basaksehir and Latvia's RFS, and landed a bumper £2.6million just for taking part in the group stage phase.

The Jambos won just two of their six fixtures, but reportedly earned an additional £875,000 in gate receipts and in prize money after defeating RFS both home and away.

While there are no guarantees in Scottish football, there is a very strong possibility that Celtic will lift the Scottish Cup at the start of June, which will leave whoever does enough to finish third in the Premiership licking their lips once again.

Fourth place

The Conference League was created at the start of last season (Getty Images)

Finishing fourth in the Premiership this season will also guarantee European football, but could also be impacted by the result of the Scottish Cup.

Currently, the fourth placed team will enter the second round of qualifying for the Conference League, but if Celtic were to win the Scottish Cup, that would then be upgraded to the third round, with just two ties to negotiate in order to reach the group stage.

Dundee United claimed that spot after finishing fourth last season, but were dealt a harsh hand in the draw after being paired with Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar in the third round. The Arabs pulled off a 1-0 victory at Tannadice in the first leg, but suffered a brutal 7-0 defeat in Alkmaar seven days later.

Fifth place

A fifth place finish will only offer European football if Celtic clinch the Scottish Cup and a domestic treble.

Thanks to Rangers' Scottish Cup glory last year, Motherwell entered the Conference League in the second round of qualifying after finishing fifth.

However the Steelmen's European campaign ended at the first hurdle, after they were embarrassed 3-0 by Irish minnows Sligo Rovers over two legs.

READ NEXT:

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- Stephen Humphrys in early Hearts exit as Steven Naismith details reasons after chat with Wigan man

- Steven Naismith in 'tale of two halves' Hearts assessment after St Mirren rescue mission

- St Mirren 2 Hearts 2 as Jambos claw back point from late penalty - 3 things we learned

- Hearts vs Aberdeen handed PPV boost with game heading towards 'complete sell out'

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