STEVEN Pressley is living proof that being sent to Coventry can be a challenging experience.

Since swapping Falkirk for the East Midlands last month, the 39-year-old has had to contend with a raft of off-field controversies comparable with those currently faced by his one-time team-mate Ally McCoist.

These include a transfer embargo, eviction then re-negotiation of access to their state-of-the-art Ricoh Arena stadium over £1.3 million worth of unpaid rent, and a contested 10-point penalty for undergoing the insolvency event which has dropped them out of contention for a League One play-off place.

The situation remains complex, with an appeal ongoing because two separate holding companies – only one of which is in administration – are quibbling over which holds the so-called "golden share" of Football League membership. Pressley is no fool, and was well briefed upon the possibility of such setbacks when he arrived. Much like in his time at the Falkirk Stadium, however, he is convinced current traumas can be the catalyst for the club's long-term gain.

"The part of the business which has all the players' contracts and all the staff contracts, is not in administration," said Pressley. "When I was coming here I was made aware there was a situation and there may well be some short-term challenges, which there are.

"The owner, chief executive and sporting director were all completely transparent with me before I came down and made me aware of that. But it was the football department which was important for me, not those outside issues.

"In any case, this is only football management. Anyone who comes into it and thinks it is all plain sailing is in the wrong occupation. You have to go through periods like this at a football club to come out the other end in a better state. I experienced it at Falkirk, where there were many challenges over the three-year period, but hopefully the experience has been very much worth it. It will be the same here."

Coventry were a Premiership club back when Pressley played for them, one staging post of an illustrious career which also took in Rangers, Dundee United, Hearts and Celtic. So he knows of the potential at a club which is also the home of former Rangers midfielder John Fleck. An impressive crowd of 32,000 attended the home leg of the regional final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. "There is a real opportunity here to build a football club again," said Pressley. "It is a massive club, with a terrific infrastructure, a great academy and a really good training base."

The timing is appropriate for a chat with Pressley as the Falkirk side he took to the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals, now managed by his former Scotland team-mate Gary Holt, prepare for Saturday's date with destiny against Hibs. "I am really excited for Falkirk, I really am," Pressley said. "My staff and I, everyone connected with the club, worked very hard on the foundations which I hope will serve the club for years to come. Alex [Smith] continued with the philosophy and style and hopefully Gary will add to that. I know Gary from Scotland trips and he is a hard worker and he seems to have had a good grounding at Norwich.

"Hopefully, given time and support, he will prove to have been a big success because I do not think the club are that far away. It may not be next season, but maybe the season after that these young players excel. They really are improving at a rapid rate."

There is a burning desire among the squad – Lyle Taylor, Jay Fulton, Kieran Duffie, Blair Alston and Thomas Grant are just a handful of the exciting young talents – to go one better than in the acrimonious defeat to Celtic in last year's Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final, during which Pressley was sent to the stands for remonstrating with referee Euan Norris.

"The players will take a great deal of confidence from that, that they were able to handle the occasion and put on the performance they did," he said. "We played a brand of football which was very much beyond the age of the team and if they can perform at that level against Hibernian they have a real chance of progress.

"I know what I want to happen and that is a Falkirk victory. I unfortunately can't make it up to the semi-final, but I would love the chance to come and watch the players in a final and I think it would be very fitting because the club have put such faith in the way we wanted to go. It has taken a lot of effort and a lot of perseverance and it would be wonderful if at the end of the season there was a cup final to look forward to."

Another item on the short-term agenda for Falkirk is that of league contruction. Their chairman, Martin Ritchie, will consider an SPL2 format if current proposals are blocked. Pressley isn't sure whether 12-12-18 will go through either, but believes the allocation of revenue throughout the divisions is a far more important matter.

"The most crucial aspect, and nothing is stopping this happening this summer, is having a better, more even distribution of the wealth," Pressley said. "I have always been an advocate of a bigger league, but even if they aren't restructuring the leagues they have to redistribute the wealth. Falkirk are one of a number of clubs who are desperately trying to do things in the right manner but have taken so much meat off the bone it is untrue."