I think, maybe for the first time ever, we are seeing the value of the top-flight split.

The fact we have the play-off this season has made a huge difference and it will add some real excitement over the next few weeks.

There is still plenty to play for in the top half of the table, particularly the race for second place. The title may have been won long ago by Celtic, but there is still value in finishing second. It is symbolically important and it also means you enter European competition a round later and your season doesn't start in July.

That will happen to the team that finishes third because Dundee United or St Johnstone will win the Scottish Cup.

The split this year will deliver what it was meant to, and there is competition right across the table, Celtic excluded.

It is the bottom half that will provide the most drama over the next few weeks, though.

There are only a couple of points between Hibs in seventh place and Partick Thistle, who currently occupy the play-off spot. It is anyone's guess who will end up in that dreaded eleventh place come the end of the season.

The play-offs should have been introduced long ago; it is an indictment on the decision-makers in our game that it wasn't.

But we have it now, the right thing has been done and, while it will work against one of the teams, it is much needed and we are in for a really interesting few weeks.