Championship previews

There are five key games in the Championship on Saturday as the race for the play-offs and the battle to avoid relegation gathers pace:

Alloa Athletic (8) v Livingston (10)
The teams meet again next weekend in the Petrofac Training Cup Final at McDiarmid Park but first face a crucial league game at the Indodrill Stadium. Alloa lost 2-1 away to Raith Rovers last Saturday while Livingston, six points adrift at the bottom, went down at home to Dumbarton. It was 0-0 when the teams met at the Energy Assets Arena at the beginning of last month, with Livi winning 4-0 in September and Alloa coming out on top 1-0 in November.

Dumbarton (7) v Falkirk (5)
Dumbarton came from behind to win 2-1 at Livingston last weekend and are well clear of the relegation zone. Falkirk suffered their first defeat of 2015 when they were beaten 3-0 at home by Hearts but edged out Cowdenbeath 1-0 on Tuesday. Peter Houston's men have lost just three times on their travels this season and are only one point outside the play-offs. The Bairns won 3-0 at Dumbarton in December but the two meetings at the Falkirk Stadium both ended in draws.

Hearts (1) v Queen of the South (4)
Hearts sealed the title last weekend with seven games to spare and are looking to make it 26 wins out of 30, against a team they have already beaten three times: 3-0 and 2-1 away and 4-1 at Tynecastle. Queen of the South saw off Cowdenbeath 4-1 in Dumfries last weekend but the midweek defeat at Raith Rovers means they have won just three times on the road.

Raith Rovers (6) v Hibernian (2)
Rovers enjoyed an impressive 3-0 home win over Queen of the South on Tuesday night but are eight points outside the play-offs with seven games remaining. Hibernian saw their good run ended by Rangers last weekend, which cut their advantage in second place to three points. Hibs won 3-1 in Kirkcaldy just before Christmas while both games at Easter Road finished 1-1.

Rangers (3) Cowdenbeath (9)
Rangers ended a sequence of five draws with a 2-0 victory at Easter Road on Sunday to boost their prospects of finishing second. Cowdenbeath are in ninth place, behind Alloa on goal difference, but held Rangers to a 0-0 draw in a rearranged fixture at Central Park earlier this month. A Dean Shiels goal was the difference between the teams at Ibrox in December.