Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes is totally focused on the remaining three games in the fight to finish Premiership runners-up.
The campaign is careering towards a high-stake climax as the Reds face the top three teams in the country.
First up for the Reds are Hibs at Pittodrie tomorrow before hosting Rangers on Tuesday then the recently-crowned champions Celtic.
Boss McInnes laid down a target of four wins from the five post-split fixtures to secure that second-place finish.
Despite victories against Hearts and Kilmarnock, they are still only halfway there which is why McInnes insists there can be no let up and absolutely no distractions.
That means those players with contracts set to expire at the end of the campaign will have to wait until the race for second has been resolved before discovering their Pittodrie futures.
World Cup-bound Icelandic international Kari Arnason, Anthony O’Connor, keeper Danny Rogers and striker Nicky Maynard all have deals running out in the summer.
All will have to wait.
Asked on the futures of those players with deals set to expire, McInnes said: “We will deal with what we need to once we know where we are going to finish in the league.
“In previous seasons we could maybe start to deal with that side of things a bit earlier.
“However, there is too much on the next few games.”
Arnason has indicated he wants to stay while O’Connor confirmed he was willing to wait it out on his future.
Rogers has made two appearances this season.
Although Freddie Woodman was brought in on loan from Newcastle United and took the No 1 spot while Joe Lewis was injured, Rogers is highly rated within Pittodrie.
Striker Maynard is expected to move on as he has not scored a goal this season.
There is more than just bragging rights of being recognised as Scotland’s second force at stake.
Financially, second pays £320,000 more than third in SPFL payments.
Runners-up spot could also see the Reds enter the Europa League two weeks later at the second qualifying round stage on Thursday July 26.
That is if Celtic complete the double treble by lifting the Scottish Cup on May 19.
Should Motherwell lift the Scottish Cup, the Steelmen will enter the second qualifying round.
In that scenario, the Premiership runners-up will have a Europa League bow at the first qualifying round phase on Thursday July 12.
Next up is Hibs tomorrow with the Reds holding a three-point advantage over the in-form Easter Road outfit.
McInnes said: “We targeted four wins in the post-split fixtures and that is difficult to do because you are playing against the best teams in the league.
“Although we have been happy with the performances in winning the last two games, we are playing against a team in Hibs that we have a high regard for.
“We look forward to it.”
The Red Army have already snapped up more than 16,000 tickets for tomorrow’s clash with that number expected to grow even further.
Hibs have sold out their allocation for the game.
McInnes can sense anticipation building.
He said: “The game has a lot of excitement on it.
“The crowd will clearly come in big numbers from both supports.
“The drama and all the ingredients are there so it will be a brilliant game.
“Hopefully, with the crowd right behind us, and if the players perform to the way they are capable of, we can look forward to another three points.
“There will be a lot of good players on show and a lot at stake.
“We are looking at taking care of our own business to try to finish second and the players are bursting to play their part.”
For McInnes, the onus on securing a victory has ramped up with each successive game after the split.
He anticipates that continuing so long as the race for second in the Premiership remains alive.
McInnes said: “We said that by beating Kilmarnock (2-0 away) the game against Hearts became even more important.
“Then by beating Hearts (2-0 home) the game against Hibs became even more important again.”
Aberdeen hold a three- point advantage over Rangers and Hibs and any slip up from either club could be fatal to their bid.
Closing out the season against the league’s top three sides with so much riding on the games is vindication of the much-maligned split for the Aberdeen manager.
McInnes said: “It shows how well the split works.
“It is unusual that the three teams involved for second spot all have it in their own hands to get it.
“The concept of the top six is working this season as we are getting fantastic games which is a real positive for the league.
“We are effectively playing cup football now through the league.
“That is what it feels like.”
The last time Hibs visited Pittodrie in December the Reds produced arguably their strongest performance of the season to triumph 4-1.
McInnes said: “We’ve won twice against Hibs but the last time they beat us 2-0.
“They are going well under Neil Lennon so it is up to us to produce (the goods).”