Falkirk midfielder Tom Taiwo reckons Hibs’ success could ultimately hinder their promotion push after the Bairns upped the pressure in the race for second.
Saturday’s 3-1 win over Queen of the South allied to Hibs’ latest set-back in Dumbarton propelled Peter Houston’s team to within two points of their Leith counterparts.
But while the Bairns are giving their undivided attention to the Championship, Taiwo reckons Hibs could have their fingers in too many pies – with his former team still in Scottish and League Cup contention.
“I think with the runs of games they’ve got coming up and with the changes they’ve got to make, I think it could affect them in terms of getting that winning mentality through the squad,” said Taiwo.
“Whilst it’s important to rotate the team considering the amount of games they’ve got to play and the competitions they’re still in, we know at Falkirk over the last six or seven months that a consistent team brings continuity in a style of play and cohesion.
“I’m in touch with a couple of the guys I know from Hibs. I saw Lewis Stevenson and Paul Hanlon two or three weeks ago and they seemed really confident in their chances of winning the so-called treble. I don’t think that’s looking likely now but they’re still a good side.”
Falkirk are due to travel to Easter Road on April 15, their third last fixture of the campaign, and Taiwo is hoping they are still in contention for second spot when the teams meet.
He added: “We’ve still got Hibs to play and that will really be a six-pointer as they say.
“There’s no reason we can’t finish above them. We’ve played them three times this season and every game has been tight.”
Falkirk were in real danger of losing only their fourth league match on Saturday after Doonhamers skipper Chris Higgins headed in Ryan Conroy’s free-kick in the 43rd minute.
John Baird brought Falkirk level eight minutes after the restart, heading in Myles Hippolyte’s cross.
Queens defender Andy Dowie then directed a Baird cross into his own net in the 65th minute before Blair Alston drove a low deflected drive past Jim Aitkinson five minutes from time.
Fowler, whose side are now four points adrift of the play-offs, said: “It was a poor second half and I think sometimes they need to roll their sleeves up and get together when the momentum changes but we didn’t react to that.”
