The race for the top six is heating up - and Livingston are firmly in the mix.
With the season entering the final month before the split, the Lions sit in fifth place with a six point cushion and five games remaining.
It’s set to go right down to the wire and Gary Holt has challenged his troops to prove everybody wrong and clinch their place in the top half of the table.
Speaking to the Courier, he said: “The top six would be a tremendous achievement. If you speak to anyone, they all want to be in the top six. It brings extra revenue in terms of prize money but it also gives you the chance to play two or three home games against the bigger clubs.
“We’ve got a five game season that will define where we are in the league. That’s what I’ve told the players.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to go out there and achieve something that absolutely nobody else in this country thought they’d be able to do.
“There’s a kudos you get and that probably allows you to make signings you maybe didn’t think you’d get or it allows you extra money.
“Does Efe Ambrose, for example, sign for Livingston if we’re sitting in the bottom two? Probably not. He would likely have signed elsewhere or waited until the summer to see if we were still in the league.
“Yes, we’re challenging for the top six and we want to be there come the end of the season but it won’t change how we work or how we go about our business.
“We’re not suddenly going to be in a position where we can sign 20 superstars.”
He added: “It’s tremendously exciting. You do look at the table and see what fixtures are coming up and there’s some really interesting and exciting games between now and the split.
“You can look at the fixtures and see what’s in the future but you obviously can’t take anything lightly and focus solely on the next game.”
Livingston currently sit on 38 points, one ahead of sixth place Hibs. But both St Johnstone and Kilmarnock are still harbouring hopes of finishing in the top half - both on 32 points but the Saints have a game in hand.
The Lions, though, arguably have the most difficult set of fixtures left with four of their five games being against sides in the top seven - but it’s the games between the four teams battling it out for fifth and sixth that are likely to define who finishes where in the table.
The remaining fixtures for each club are as follows:
LIVINGSTON
March 4: H. Celtic
March 7: A. St Johnstone
March 15: H. Hearts
March 21: H. Aberdeen
April 4: A. Kilmarnock
HIBERNIAN
March 3: H. Hearts
March 7: A. Aberdeen
March 14: H. St Johnstone
March 21: A. Hamilton Accies
April 4: H. Celtic
KILMARNOCK
March 4: H. Aberdeen
March 7: A. Hamilton Accies
March 14: H. St Mirren
March 21: A. Motherwell
April 4: H. Livingston
ST JOHNSTONE
March 4: A. St Mirren
March 7: H. Livingston
March 14: A. Hibernian
March 21: A. Celtic
April 4: H. Hamilton Accies
TBA: A. Rangers
