BY IAIN COLLIN – @CCP_Sport
Mark Kerr reckons Falkirk can now tough it out with the best after crediting manager Peter Houston with adding steel to the silky football the club has become renowned for in recent times.
The Bairns certainly stood up to the fight last weekend when they swept St Mirren aside with a comfortable 3-0 victory.
The win left them in third place in the table, just four points behind second-placed Hibernian and nine behind a near-perfect Rangers side.
Since Houston arrived before last season, he has added more experience in the form of the likes of Kerr, John Baird, Aaron Muirhead, Paul Watson and Lee Miller.
And Kerr, the former Dundee United and Aberdeen midfielder, believes they also now have a different side to their neat passing play.
The 33-year-old, who began his career with Falkirk, said: “I think the type of older boys we’ve got, nobody backs away from a head-to-head with anybody.
“Sometimes the boys laugh because they don’t back down from what’s in front of them. That’s good and it goes through the other boys, when they know the older boys will back them up.
“Then the younger boys end up being the ones that go and lead from the front sometimes.
“The likes of Will Vaulks is only 22 and he’s there flying into tackles. You’re backing each other and giving each other high-fives.
“You’re actually trying to make it a bit of a fight sometimes, because we know our quality will come through.
“It’s definitely something I think the gaffer has had in his plans for the team he’s built this season. He’s got a bit more of that in the side, which is good for the team, especially in the Championship.”
Win-win
Falkirk are seeking a hat-trick of consecutive wins when they travel to face Raith Rovers tomorrow and Kerr is hopeful the Bairns can extend their lead over their hosts to six points.
He added: “That’s a massive thing. Two weeks ago, Raith were above us but we can go on Saturday and we can be totally positive that any sort of ‘result’ is a win-win for us.
“Obviously, we’re going to (try and) win it, with the form we’re on, scoring goals, but if we came away with a draw then we’ve got the rest of the games to say ‘you’ve still got to catch us’.
“I think we’ve got ourselves back in a right good position, going into this game three points ahead.”
@IainCollin
