Jim Goodwin takes his Aberdeen side to Edinburgh on Wednesday night knowing a defeat against Hearts could see their hopes of finishing third all but dashed for another season.
The battle of the best of the rest has been tight for all of this campaign, however Robbie Neilson's side has managed to open a gap on the Dons and Livingston since the World Cup break. A win for the Pittodrie men means they will be just three points behind the Jambos. Goodwin will have to pick his team up after their extra-time loss to Rangers in the Viaplay Cup semi-final at Hampden on Sunday.
Aberdeen will be without captain Anthony Stewart for the trip to the capital after he was shown a straight red for a reckless challenge on Rangers winger Fashion Sakala. It will force Goodwin to shuffle his pack and maybe formation as well due to the lack of cover in the centre back position.
A number of players hobbled off during the semi-final on Sunday, but Goodwin did not reveal in his pre-match press conference that his side had any new injury worries. This will be music to fans ears especially after Duk was taken off and replaced by Jonny Hayes at the weekend.
Here's the Record Sport predicted line-up for the crunch match.
Predicted line-up
When Stewart was last suspended Goodwin went to 3-5-2 formation against Kilmarnock with Jack MacKenzie slotting in beside Liam Scales and Ross McCrorie. With MacKenzie absent on Sunday the Pittodrie boss could do the same but with Hayden Coulson or Hayes to play alongside the two centre-backs.
The performance against Killie at Rugby Park, between Christmas and New Year, was probably the worst of the season so Goodwin may stick with his trusted 4-2-3-1 formation. He may call on Jayden Richardson to play at right-back – but we’d be surprised – and shift McCrorie in to play alongside Scales with Coulson at left-back.
Graeme Shinnie and Ylber Ramadani will protect the back three with Hayes/Coulson and Matty Kennedy providing the width either side of Leighton Clarkson, who is also a doubt. If Duk is passed if then he is expected to start alongside Bojan Mivoski.
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