Cove Rangers boss Paul Hartley is embracing the all-too-familiar rollercoaster ride of the Championship season as his side continue to battle for second-tier survival.
With only two games remaining, there is only one second-tier club, Raith Rovers, with nothing left to play for.
There are two teams in contention for the title, Dundee and Queen’s Park – who face each other on the final day of the season – while four other clubs are fighting for two remaining play-off places.
At the other end, the relegation battle will also go down to the last day of the campaign as basement side Cove are currently level on 30 points with Hamilton, who have played one game more, and three behind eighth-placed Arbroath.
Hartley described the “madness” of the division ahead of Cove’s top-v-bottom clash at Dens Park against his former club Dundee on Friday night.
Hartley said: “I was there in 2013-14 going for the title. The last three games were mad.
“We went to Morton and lost 1-0, so there were two games left.
“We were now chasing and go to Alloa the following weekend, win 3-0, and Hamilton got beat at Dumbarton.
“The last game of the season, we play Dumbarton and Hamilton play Morton. We’re top and a draw should’ve been good enough because our goal difference.
“We go 2-0 up, then 2-1 and (goalkeeper Kyle) Letheren makes an unbelievable save on the last kick of the ball.
“Little did I know, Hamilton were winning 10-2.
“If we had drawn that game, we would have been second.
“But that’s the Championship, it’s madness.
“There’s a bit of pressure on Dundee going into this game, maybe more than there is on us.”
Hartley glad Cove have been able to keep relegation fight going
Despite there being plenty at stake, the title nor relegation can be settled on Friday night – but both Cove and Dundee will be battling to put themselves in a best-possible position ahead of next week’s round of fixtures, which will also be Friday night matches.
Hartley said: “Nothing can get decided, but maybe a bit of nerves will kick in for Dundee.
“For us, we’ve got to go there and be extremely positive and make sure we come up with a good game plan.
“Nobody expects us to win, that’s for sure. It’s top against bottom, but strange things have happened in the Championship over the years.
“If we can get some sort of result against Dundee and get a win in the last win of the season, you’re hoping something goes your way with Hamilton against Arbroath.
“But if it doesn’t, then we’ve got to try and finish ninth and go into the play-offs.
“We said let’s take it into the last day and we’ve managed to do that.”
Cove will travel to Dens with a depleted squad due to an extensive injury list that has left Hartley with only “three or four” substitutes at his disposal.
He said: “There are two more out from last weekend – Michael (O’Halloran) and Leighton (McIntosh) are out with hamstring injuries.
“(Miko) Virtanen, (Blaire) Yule, (Fraser) Fyvie, (Brody) Patterson are out, and (Shay) Logan is touch and go. We’ve got our injury problems.
“We might have three or four subs max on Friday night, so we’re really low on numbers.
“We’ve been doing tactical stuff with the players we’ve got. It’s more about just trying to get the players ready now for the next two games.
“It is (trying to wrap players in cotton wool). Last week, two players came off with the exact same injuries and it throws your team and game-plan out the window a bit.
“We’ve just got to try and make the most of it and put a team together.
“We’re really short in the forward areas at this moment in time, so we’ll pick a team that we think can compete in an atmosphere that’s going to be terrific.
“It could be in front of around 8,000 fans, because Dundee are going for the title. It’s a game the players should enjoy, but work hard.”
Conversation