St Johnstone’s Liam Craig has said there will be no room for sentiment when he lines up against his old club Falkirk tonight.
The Bairns are perilously placed at the foot of the SPL table on goal difference behind Kilmarnock with just two games remaining.
While the midfielder has admitted in the past that Falkirk saved his career, they will receive no favours from him.
St Johnstone are still determined to finish seventh in the league and while that would reap rewards for the club and players, Craig said pride is the overriding factor as the season edges to its conclusion.
“We are still sore about not making the top six but we are determined to hold on to seventh place,” he said.
“The split has been around for a few years now but certain aspects of it are still strange.
“For instance, it is possible that the team which finishes in seventh position can have a higher points total than the side in sixth.
He added, “It is great that we are not involved in the relegation dogfight but we just have to continue being professional and hopefully end the season on a high against Hamilton who are just behind us.
“However, we know it will be a really difficult game as their recent run is the sort of form that is worthy of a top three finish.
“Before that though, we have a vital game against Falkirk.
“Finishing seventh would obviously be important both to the club in terms of money from the SPL and the players in the form of bonuses but pride is the overriding factor to us.
“Against Kilmarnock, we were determined to finally win against a side who had beaten us three times already this season.
“Likewise, we have not lost to Falkirk this term and we will be doing everything to ensure we maintain that record on Wednesday night and complete a clean sweep.”SentimentCraig still lives in the Falkirk area and has many old pals at the club but when asked whether there was any room for sentiment in football, he replied, “Definitely not.
“I have friends at Killie as well as Falkirk and, as I said, we have our pride to consider.
“We also want to win for our fans who have been magnificent for us this season and will probably travel in good numbers again.
“As professionals, we want to win every game so Falkirk will not be getting any favours from us. Saints boss Derek McInnes is sweating over the fitness of Filipe Morais, who has a knee injury and is rated doubtful for the game.
Falkirk also have doubts over defender Brian McLean. The right-back damaged his knee in the weekend’s 1-1 draw at home to St Mirren.
Striker Carl Finnigan remains sidelined with an ankle injury and is unlikely to play again this season.