Falkirk manager Peter Houston has urged his players to make the most of Hibs’ Championship break by taking second place from Alan Stubbs’ side.
The Bairns’ hard-fought goal-less draw at St Mirren on Tuesday allied to Hibs’ third successive defeat at Queen of the South has left Houston’s team just a point adrift.
And with Hibs in Scottish Cup action against Inverness on Sunday, Falkirk will leap-frog their Edinburgh counterparts if they manage to avoid defeat at home to Alloa on Saturday.
With the Leith club on League Cup final duty the following weekend, Falkirk will play three matches – Alloa, Dumbarton and Rangers – before Hibs turn their attention back to the Championship and Houston is keen to take advantage.
He said: “We can go second on Saturday if we beat Alloa, because Hibs don’t have a game so that’s our next target.
“We have take it one game at a time and we look forward to Alloa now.
“We’ll recover as two games in three days was a lot. We’ll rest and recover and get ready for Alloa.
“But both ourselves and Hibs will drop points between now and the end of the season.”
Houston admits he could not be overly critical of his side’s performance in Paisley with St Mirren on the up with Alex Rae at the helm.
Houston, speaking to BBC Scotland, added: “Although I didn’t say it, I thought before the match that coming to St Mirren Park and getting a point was not a disaster because they are improving.
“I thought it would be really tough because they had won three on the bounce at home.
“It keeps our unbeaten run going as well.”
