FALKIRK head coach John Hughes believes his players will need to match the "bravado" of captain Darren Barr when they head to Aberdeen bidding to nail down a top-six place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
Barr, 23, was one of the few players to impress as Falkirk struggled to impose themselves on tenth-placed Kilmarnock, allowing rivals Hearts and Aberdeen to close to within a point.
Falkirk still hold sixth place ahead of the final round of fixtur
es before the split, but worryingly they have gone two games without scoring, and they rarely looked like finding the net against Killie. Hughes accepts Falkirk face a tough task against Aberdeen in their televised match at Pittodrie a week tonight.
They will require a victory if Hearts beat Kilmarnock two days beforehand, so Hughes believes the likes of Barr will have vital roles to play.
"He's just grown in stature and he epitomises everything we are about at the club," Hughes said. "He leads from the front. I felt the fight is never in doubt with Darren Barr. He wears his heart on his sleeve.
"I've seen him a little bit better on the ball but he was driving the team forward and that's the kind of character we need if we're going to get in the top six – if it's not this year then in the coming years.
"You need characters in your dressing room when you're going to places like Pittodrie next week – not just in terms of football ability, but a bit of steel in there, a bit of bravado, and someone to say, 'No matter what, I'm up for this'."
Hughes renewed his attack on the decision by stadium managers to allow two Scotland Under-20 rugby matches to be played at the Falkirk Stadium this year.
Hughes believes the effect has been significant, leaving the surface unsuited to the brand of passing football his team specialise in.
"Whoever in their wisdom wanted to bring rugby to the football pitch, with the style that we play, at that time of the year, I think they have to look at it," said Hughes. "The surface wasn't conducive to our style of play."
Kilmarnock have finished in the top six in each of the past two seasons but have slumped in this campaign. Manager Jim Jefferies was satisfied with the outcome of a largely uninspiring game at odds with their four-goal defeat of Inverness seven days earlier.
"We played some not bad stuff, kept a clean sheet, but couldn't make the breakthrough," Jefferies said. "James Fowler was the pick of the team, and the improvement might make my summer easier. I may bring in only two or three players, as opposed to seven or eight."
The full article contains 471 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
