Having called for changes to the play-off system which, he believes, favours the team that is defending its Premiership status, Peter Houston joked yesterday that self-interest now means he no longer cares after his Falkirk side earned second place in the Championship and a vital nine day rest with a 1-0 win against Morton.
While the latest tweak to the play-off schedule, introduced to accommodate television planners, has been seen as even more advantageous to the team which finishes 11th in the favour, Houston grinned widely as he said: “It doesn’t matter to us now.”
However the serious matter from his point of view is the break they now benefit from, yesterday’s goal-scorer Paul Watson having been among those members of a squad that is much smaller than Championship rivals Rangers and Hibs, who have been struggling with injuries.
“The difference between second and third is massive for us, it gives us time to recover and that’s great because we looked out on our feet at the end,” Houston admitted.
Though keen to keep feet on the ground, Houston hailed what they have done so far having previously stated that they have achieved this season’s principal objective by reaching the play-offs.
“We can have a look at who comes through and think about how we are going to go about it,” he said.
“We’ve done nothing yet bur for a club this size to finish second above Hibs is tremendous. I think it’s the first time we have done that in 45 years.
“I think it’s a better achievement than reaching the cup final last year because we had a favourable run to get there and we have done this over 36 games.
“We have lost only four games which is fewer than any other team in the league.
“What can I say about the guys? We’ve got some great attitude and desire in there and we are never say die.
“We have come back in so many games. That’s the character this team has got.”
There was, understandably, something of a party atmosphere in the Falkirk Stadium after it became clear that they had clinched second place. While an announcement at half-time had made it clear that plans for the players to return to the field to receive the applause of some 5000 home supporters were already in place, most of them did so accompanied by their children in scenes reminiscent of trophy celebrations.
Vastly experienced, however, Houston is well placed to ensure that they get the balance just right.
“I didn’t want to over-celebrate,” he said.
“I’ve been very careful in what I’ve said to the players that we’ve only achieved a part of where we want to go. You have to achieve something by winning a cup or getting promotion. In days goen by second would have got you promotion but it doesn’t nowadays so we have got a double-header to try to get into fixtures against a Premiership side.
“Our boys are just relieved and happy but I don’t think we over-celebrated today because the hard work starts now. What it has done today is save us another tough couple of games.
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