The Scotsman Football Show - Wednesday football preview - video Dailymotion

The Scotsman

Mark Atkinson discusses a big night of Scottish football on Wednesday.

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00:00Hello, I'm Mark Atkinson, Sports Editor of The Scotsman, here to talk you through a particularly

00:08busy night of football on Wednesday. We have six games in the Scottish Premiership and

00:15also a cup final on the continent to discuss as well as some Scottish representation there

00:21as well. I'll start off in the Premiership, it's the penultimate round of fixtures, game

00:26week 37 and there are lots of issues that could be settled on Wednesday. Let's start at the

00:33bottom of the table. St Johnston are currently propping up the pile, 32 points with a goal

00:40difference of minus 37. However, they're only three points off Ross County with a goal difference

00:45of minus 28 and then Dundee are on 37 points for their two clear of county with a goal difference

00:51of minus 22. Why is this so important? Well, St Johnston, they're at Hearts on Wednesday

00:57night who are playing for seventh place and should they win there, they give their survival

01:02hopes a real shot in the arm, even more so in their victory over county. Last weekend, Dundee

01:08and county play each other at Den's Park at the same time and with one of those teams guaranteed

01:13to drop points. It's a great opportunity for Seymour Valachari St Johnston's side to close

01:19the gap and put real pressure on the teams above them ahead of the final day of the season

01:23on Sunday. At Den's Park, Dundee taking on a Ross County team that have lost their last

01:29seven matches. Don Cowie's men are clearly the side out of form in the Premiership. However,

01:34they've beaten Dundee three times this season, a remarkable stat really. And Dundee, while

01:39Sam Murray's been scoring plenty of goals for them, they continue to struggle defensively.

01:45That's bound to be a nervy night at Den's Park. If Dundee beat Ross County, they are safe.

01:51They can't finish 11-4-12. So, high stakes match for those two teams and also the game

01:59at Tyne Castle. Probably the only match on the card that doesn't have any jeopardy on it

02:04is between Motherwell and Kilmarnock. Although there's intrigue surrounding Kilmarnock's current

02:09manager, Derek McInnes, heavily linked with a move to Hearts. Motherwell and Kilmarnock battling

02:15it out for positions and prize money as much as anything else. They're both delighted, I

02:20suspect, not to be embroiled in the relegation battle that the three aforementioned teams that

02:25I talked about are in. In the top six, we could have some certainty on the race for third

02:31place. Hibs are currently in pole position, three points clear of fourth-placed Aberdeen

02:37with a much superior goal difference. The high beasts have a goal difference of plus 12.

02:42Aberdeen are on minus eight. Should Hibs beat St Mirren and Paisley on Wednesday night,

02:46then third place is done, no matter what happens between Aberdeen and Celtic, who meet at eight

02:52o'clock, 15 minutes later, at Pataudry in a cup final, Scottish cup final dressing

02:58rest. I'll come to that game in a second, but in terms of the Hibs match, really, really

03:02big game in Paisley, because St Mirren also have much to play for. They're currently sixth,

03:06but having won two and drawn one of their post-split matches, they're just two points

03:12behind Dundee United, and should they win against Hibs and Dundee United lose at Ibrox

03:18against Rangers, then St Mirren would go into the final match, sitting one point clear of

03:24Dundee United and in pole position for some European football as well, because fifth place

03:28we know will get you a conference league spot. So it's by no means a certainty that Hibs

03:33will beat St Mirren, especially when you take into account that St Mirren are the only team

03:37that Hibs have not beaten this season. St Mirren have won in Paisley 3-0, 2-1 at Easter Road,

03:44a 0-0 draw at the Smyser earlier this year. So a really difficult match for Hibs, given how

03:50well Stephen Robinson's buddies are playing. Dundee United are the team possibly with most

03:55to fret about. Many thought they were a shoo-in for European football, but given that they've

04:00hit the skids in recent weeks and losing 2-0 to St Mirren last time out, they're in real

04:05danger against a Rangers team who finally won a home match under Barry Ferguson, a convincing

04:104-0 victory over Aberdeen, and one suspects they'll want to say goodbye to Ibrox this season

04:16with a flourish. The Scottish Cup dress rehearsal, I mentioned, takes place at Pataudry,

04:21live on Sky Sports, 8 o'clock kick-off. Aberdeen really have to get at least a point,

04:26if not three, to put pressure on Hibs as they go into the final game of the season.

04:31They'll also want to get some form ahead of taking on Celtic at Hamden a week on Saturday. Celtic

04:37manager Brendan Rodgers has promised to make changes to his team as he looks to keep his squad

04:43fresh and give others opportunity ahead of that date against the Dons. That might play

04:47into Jimmy Tillene's hands. Aberdeen have caused Celtic issues this season in their final home

04:53match of the season. What has been a pretty good campaign they'll want to sign off in style.

04:57As I mentioned, that game is live in Sky Sports, 8 o'clock kick-off. The rest of the game

05:02will start at 7.45pm. There's also a big match in Italy. We're all watching Italian football

05:08with great encouragement, really, given how many Scots are doing well there.

05:13And while Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmore continue to shine at Napoli in their Serie A

05:20title push, Lewis Ferguson could become the first Scottish footballer in 40 years,

05:26since Graeme Soudes in 1985, when he was at Sampdoria, to win the Coppa Italia.

05:31Bologna take on AC Milan on Wednesday at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

05:36Bologna haven't won this trophy since 1974, and AC Milan haven't won it in 22 years.

05:41So there's a lot riding on this game for both teams, who are still battling for Champions

05:45three places in Serie A. They actually met on Friday night on league duty.

05:49AC Milan won 3-1 at the San Siro. Ferguson was left on the bench.

05:53Manager Vincenzo Italiano said that was purely precautionary, because he wants his midfielder

05:58fit in firing for the cup final. This would be a phenomenal achievement for Ferguson and Bologna,

06:04who are largely a provincial club in Italy, to win this trophy. The game is live on Premier

06:10Sports, 8 o'clock kickoff UK time. Let's face it, you've got plenty of football to watch

06:15and enjoy on Wednesday. We'll have all the action, analysis, comment, reaction on scotsman.com

06:24and in the paper across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Big midweek awaits of Scottish football.

06:30You don't want to miss it.

The Scotsman Football Show - Wednesday football preview

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