Scottish Championship: Who will win five-way fight for top-flight promotion?

Just seven points separates the Scottish Championship's top five clubs

Cast your eye across Europe's top leagues and you will see chasms widening between champions-elect and the chasing packs.

The English Premier League? Ten-point gap. Make that 13 in France's Ligue 1. As for the German Bundesliga and Spain's La Liga? Note them down for nine and five, respectively.

Even in the Scottish Premiership, a six-point gap has been stretched between Rangers and Celtic at the winter break.

But dig your way down to the second tier and eventually you will hit gold - or "the most ridiculous league in Europe," as coined by Sportsound presenter Richard Gordon.

So with just seven points separating the Scottish Championship's top five clubs, who has got the bottle to go all the way?

BBC Scotland discusses with Sportscene pundit Leanne Crichton.

'Killie have still got to be favourites'

When Derek McInnes sat down to address the media for the first time as new Kilmarnock boss on Thursday, he recalled the transformative impact current Scotland head coach Steve Clarke had at Rugby Park.

Clarke enjoyed a hugely successful 18-month spell at the Ayrshire club, eventually guiding the side to third place in the Premiership before making the move to the Hampden hot seat.

But to stand a chance of emulating Clarke's success, ex-Aberdeen manager McInnes will have to drag Kilmarnock out the second tier, a remit which has not been as straightforward as expected so far this season.

Tommy Wright lost his job at Rugby Park in December and McInnes takes over with his new side fourth in the table, five points shy of high-flying Arbroath, but with a game to spare on Dick Campbell's men.

"McInnes' appointment will give Killie a huge lift," Crichton tells BBC Scotland. "He knows what it takes. Even with his Aberdeen team he was punching above his weight even though he had a decent budget.

"The players will know he has the experience and the rest of the challengers will know it's a strong appointment. They've still got to be favourites for the title.

"They've got the biggest budget and I still believe they've got the strongest group of players, plus I expect McInnes to get money to bring in one or two new faces."

• Has McInnes got his hands full at Kilmarnock?

'You want to be in Arbroath's position'

While Crichton believes Kilmarnock are still favourites given their squad strength and financial power, the former Scotland international feels there is only one place you want to be heading into the second half of the season.

Part-timers Arbroath have defied the odds to sit top of the table at this point, but although there is set to be immense pressure from the full-time sides in the chasing pack, Crichton's past experiences tell her that you never want to be relying on others slipping up.

"Right now, you want to be Arbroath," she says. "When you're behind in a title race, there's always a bit of stress and anxiety because you're reliant on that top team dropping points.

"Being up there, you're in control. If you're a frontrunner, that's where you want to be. It would be the stuff of dreams if Arbroath could get automatic promotion. I'd love to see it."

• Can part-time Arbroath reach Premiership?

Don't forget about Inverness, Raith & Thistle...

The noise around McInnes' appointment and the merited lauding of Arbroath's achievements have somewhat overshadowed the other contenders.

Second-placed Inverness Caledonian Thistle are led by Billy Dodds, an experienced coach but one experiencing his first year in management, and a win for the Highlanders in their game in hand over Arbroath would take them level on points with the leaders.

Meanwhile, Raith Rovers - who sit third - are maintaining a second successive Premiership promotion push after only reaching the Championship at the start of last season and travel to Inverness on Saturday with the chance to leapfrog the Dodds' men.

As for Partick Thistle, Ian McCall's fifth-placed side are the league's newcomers this term and sit just seven points off leaders Arbroath with two games in hand.

But McCall has a job on his hands trying to keep a hold of his top scorer Zak Rudden this month, with the Firhill hierarchy reportedly already knocking back bids for the Scotland Under-21 striker at this early stage in the January window.

"Perhaps sometimes Thistle have shown some inconsistency, dropping points where you wouldn't expect," Crichton adds. "But they've got goalscorers within their squad. Can they hold on to Rudden, though?

"As for Raith, they've been excellent again. After a huge turnover of players in the summer, huge credit needs to go to John McGlynn. And at Inverness, Billy [Dodds] has shown he knows how to get the best out players. He's had an opportunity to show he's got a real knack for management this season and he's taken it.

"But January is going to be so important for these teams. Can Arbroath can cope without Joel Nouble now that he's returning to Livingston? And who will Killie bring in? This window could determine how the table pans out."