THE final set of Ladbrokes Premiership fixtures are expected to be published after the weekend, despite Hearts claiming the final top-six place.
Motherwell’s 2-0 defeat by Aberdeen on Tuesday ended their hopes of overtaking Hearts on the final weekend of games before the split.
But the Scottish Professional Football League is set to wait until after Sunday to finalise the final five rounds of fixtures.
Results over the coming days could give Celtic the chance to clinch their seventh consecutive title in their first post-split fixture – meaning the SPFL is unlikely to schedule the champions to play Rangers on the weekend of April 21-22.
The derby is likely to go ahead on that weekend if Celtic cannot wrap up the championship on that day.
An SPFL spokesman said: “Work has begun to prepare the Ladbrokes Premiership post-split fixture schedule for 2017/18.
“This work will include consultations with Police Scotland and discussions with Sky Sports and BT Sport regarding live broadcast selections. It is expected that the post-split fixture schedule will be published early next week.”
League officials also have a decision to make on which teams face a third trip to Ibrox this season. Rangers are due two home games after the split, but have already faced all five of their top-six rivals twice at Ibrox.
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