Celtic manager Martin O’Neill denied they had got lucky in their post-split fixtures and warned his team had plenty of work to ensure they went into the final game with their title chances intact.
The Hoops will host Rangers three games before the end of the season and leaders Hearts on the final day, having faced them both away twice already before the William Hill Premiership splits in two.
The Scottish Professional Football League declared it was unable to keep to convention and ensure the current league leaders were given a home game on the final day when arranging the final five fixtures.
With a city derby on the final day ruled out, and with both Celtic and Rangers unable to play at home at the same time on 16 May or the midweek before, and with the champions having three home matches left after Saturday, the league stated giving Hearts a home match on the final day was “not possible”.
When asked on talkSPORT if Celtic had “lucked out” in the fixtures, O’Neill said: “No, that’s the draw.
“Generally speaking when I was manager years and years before, the Celtic- Rangers game is one that they played relatively early in proceedings.
“I think there’s a reason why that can’t happen. I think there is some sort of march taking place in Glasgow in the early parts of the split, so the Rangers game fell into the middle. I think that was the reason.
“Consequently the Hearts game falls into the last match, I assume. You would have to ask the SPFL.”
A major pro-Scottish independence march is planned for Glasgow on 25 April, when Celtic host Falkirk, while the Glasgow Kiltwalk starts from Glasgow Green the following day, when Motherwell play Rangers at Ibrox.
O’Neill added: “You’re talking about ‘lucking out’, we might be out of contention by that time. You never know, that’s the point.
“The very fact we have three games (at home) because we need to have 19 home and 19 away games, I think that’s the only way they could have done it.”
O’Neill declared he was viewing Hearts and Rangers in equal measure as title contenders and stressed his side had ground to make up.
Kelechi Iheanacho struck late to give the Celtic all three points at Dundee
Last weekend’s late 2-1 win at Dundee allowed the third-placed Hoops to cut the gap on Hearts to three points.
“I think our result against Dundee last weekend keeps us in it,” he said. “Had we lost that game, it would have been a long way back for us. But we are fighting strongly at this minute.
“We have this split now where we play Rangers and Hearts, of course, and they play each other as well.
“The other games are pretty difficult. We are at home to Falkirk and away to Hibs and Motherwell.
Essentially those are the best teams in the SPFL.
“So it’s going to be exciting but for us, not just playing it down, we are still playing catch-up. We are so far away from winning a title.”