A new poll suggests there is “no evidence” that the Scottish Tories are narrowing the gap with Labour in battle for second place in May Holyrood election.
The research by TNS puts backing for the SNP at 60% in the constituency vote, up three points from last month.
Kezia Dugdale’s party is still trailing on 21%, the figures show, while the Conservatives have dropped four points to 13%.
Of those expressing a preference and who are certain to vote on the day, just 4% said they would do so for the Liberal Democrats.
In the regional section of the vote, the poll of 1,036 adults – interviewed across Scotland between February 3 and 24 – shows support for the nationalists at 55%, with Labour and the Tories again on 21% and 13% respectively.
Tom Costley, head of TNS Scotland, said: “There is no evidence from this February data that the Conservatives in Scotland have made any progress in narrowing the gap with Labour, to claim to be the second party.
“Indeed, if anything, they have fallen back a little.
“With nine weeks to go, time is running out for opposition parties to make real inroads into SNP polling dominance.”
There has been speculation in recent months that the Conservatives could be poised to surpass Labour.
In January, Commons leader Chris Grayling told the P&J Ms Dugdale’s party was in danger of not winning a single constituency seat.
He said he was confident his party would, although admitted it would be a “stretch” for the Tories to overtake Labour overall.
Meanwhile, separate research by Survation for a Scottish national newspaper puts constituency support for the SNP at 54%, Labour at 21%, the Tories at 16%, with the Liberal Democrats on 5% and others at 4%.
In the regional list section, backing for the SNP was 43% with Labour on 19% and the Conservatives on 14%.
The Scottish Greens were on 9% with Ukip on 6%, just behind the Liberal Democrats on 7%.