With Montrose sitting 10 points ahead of bottom placed East Stirlingshire with just four games of the league season remaining, it would take an incredible sequence of results to send the Gable Endies to the foot of the table to face another dreaded pyramid play-off.
However, Links Park boss Paul Hegarty is taking absolutely nothing for granted and he will only be able to breathe a sigh of relief once his side are mathematically safe, hopefully by picking up the right result at East Fife on Saturday.
The Dundee United legend knows only too well the pressure Shire boss Craig Tully is under at the moment having experienced the rollercoaster of emotions when Montrose finished bottom of the table last season and had to play Highland League Brora Rangers in a nail-biting play-off.
However, while Hegarty does sympathise with his fellow manager, he is still a firm believer that the pyramid system is the correct one for Scottish football.
He said: “Our job is not done and dusted until it is mathematically impossible for us to be caught.
“We cannot rely on others, we have to do it on our own merit so we will go to New Bayview looking to get the points we need.
“I remember giving an interview before I got the Montrose job where I said I was a big fan of the play-off system and my view hasn’t changed despite having experienced it first-hand.
“It has been in place in England for years and it is a good thing.
“For too long up here, clubs have been complacent knowing that even if they finished bottom, they would still be in the league the next year.
Hegarty added: “Now if you finish bottom, you have no guaranteed right to stay in the SPFL and that has eliminated any complacency.
“Admittedly there is the possibility that you could lose a 10th of the teams in the league every season.
“However, that is the nature of the beast now.
“It is not good for managers as I discovered last season but I think it is only fair that clubs from the Highland and Lowland Leagues are given the opportunity to play in the SPFL.
“We are not safe yet so we just have to look after ourselves but I do sympathise with Craig Tully’s plight at East Stirlingshire.
“We would all like to be where Gary Naysmith’s East Fife are at the top of the league but this is a tough division to get out of or stay in.”