The final, vital, leg of Dundee United’s season kicks off in just under a fortnight when Dundee United will face Inverness Caley Thistle or Ayr United in what will, hopefully, be the first of four Premiership play-off games.
And, between now and then, Robbie Neilson has some big selection decisions to make.
The good news for Arabs is the choices their manager has to make will centre on which players he will have to leave out, rather than who he might have to draught in to cover positional weaknesses in his team.
For while these end-of-season showdowns are not the route to the top flight Neilson wanted to be taking, he does have the consolation of knowing that, going into them, he has options available.
The one big benefit to the manager of having to rebuild his squad during the January transfer window is it has left him with plenty of choice
As three wins on the bounce suggest, he is going into this period with lots of players looking good in terms of fitness and form.
It means when the first leg of the play-off semi-final arrives on May 14, there are going to be disappointed men who’ll have to be content with the bench.
In every department of the outfield, the gaffer will have more personnel than places and guessing what the line-up will be isn’t easy.
To take the givens in the XI for that night first, there is no question, all things being equal, Benjamin Siegrist will be in goal.
The Swiss shot stopper has been No 1 under Neilson and that’s not going to change now.
Ahead of him, skipper Mark Reynolds is an automatic choice at centre-half, and rightly so. The man whose loan move from Aberdeen will become permanent in the summer has been the team’s most consistent performer over the second half of the season.
In midfield, the presence of Calum Butcher can also be taken as read. One who doesn’t wait for the going to get tough before he gets going, his physical presence in the middle of the park has become a big part of the United machine.
Further forward, Peter Pawlett is another who will start, though whether that’s in an attacking role out wide, or in his preferred central area remains to be seen.
Heading back to the defence, Paul Watson now looks a good bet for right-back, but on-loan Charlie Seaman is also an option.
In the middle, Mark Connolly looks ahead of Rachid Bouhenna when it comes to partnering Reynolds but it’s a close call.
On the left, if the manager goes with a 4-4-2 formation or something close to it, Calum Booth will play with converted midfielder Jamie Robson just ahead of him, but if it’s a 4-2-3-1 United, Robson could get the nod.
Alongside Butcher in central midfield, impressive American Ian Harkes currently has the jersey but fit-again Sam Stanton’s energy and extra experience will give the manager something to ponder.
That would see Pawlett pushed out to the right and, despite the excellent form that’s earned him a new contract, Paul McMullan drop down to the bench.
More remarkable could be the situation with the front places. With Osman Sow approaching full match fitness, he could be handed one of the striking berths.
If that’s the case it would mean one of the season’s top scorers, Pavol Safranko or Nicky Clark, would miss out.
Sow and Safranko started the weekend win over Falkirk and, given the Slovakian’s form, it’s hard to see him being dropped.
Clark may well get 90 minutes at Morton. If he does he’s likely to stake a claim for inclusion.
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