BY IAIN COLLIN – @CCP_sport
Mark Kerr insists Falkirk would back themselves against any opposition in the play-offs as they bid to boost their promotion hopes by clinching second.
The Bairns leapfrogged Hibernian into the runners-up spot with Saturday’s routine 2-0 victory over bottom side Alloa Athletic and have the opportunity to stretch their two-point advantage away to Dumbarton this weekend when Hibs are competing in the League Cup final.
Kerr netted a brilliantly-worked second goal to effectively clinch the three points in the 36th minute against the Wasps after defender Paul Watson had made the breakthrough eight minutes earlier.
And the 34-year-old is fully aware of the benefits to Peter Houston’s men if they can hang on to second in the coming weeks.
Asked to assess Falkirk’s prospects if they were to make the play-off final, Kerr said: “Most of the Premiership teams are cutting each other’s throats, there’s nobody really on a steady run.
“We’d be confident. We’ve played a couple of Premiership teams this season and we would fancy our chances against anybody.
“Finishing second is a massive difference, 100 per cent.
“At that stage of the season, when you’ve had a hard season, and you’re expected to win six games to go up if you’re third or fourth – it does make a big difference.”
Pressure
Kerr produced a sublime finish to a sweeping counter-attack to end Alloa’s resistance at the weekend and ensured Falkirk would not pass up the opportunity to move above Hibs, who were on Scottish Cup duty.
Having been eager to ‘fly under the radar’ below Rangers and Hibs all campaign, though, Kerr is aware they will have to withstand different stresses and strains as the season builds to its climax.
He added: “We’re there, we’ve handled the pressure and we’re above Hibs now, so we just need to look forward to next week to try and get another three points on the board.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing against, or whether you’re home or away, we need to handle that.
“Nobody’s spoken about feeling the pressure or anything like that. But there is a pressure there, because if you’re the team in second then Hibs have had that tag where we’re trying claw them back and get ahead of them.
“We’ve managed to do that now, so we just have to take every game as it comes now and enjoy it and work hard.
“Hopefully we go and do the business this week.
“They would have games in hand but if we can get the points next week it’s better to have the points on the board, especially at this stage of the season.”
