St Johnstone’s Liam Craig reckons a win over his old club tonight would finally kill off any possibility of Saints becoming involved in the relegation dogfight.
The Perth men enjoy a 13-point lead over bottom-of-the-table Falkirk, with a game in hand.
Craig is hoping that this evening will see them establish an unassailable lead, and in so doing enhance their prospects of overhauling Hearts in the race for sixth place.
“We’re not safe yet,” he said. “But if we were to win this one Falkirk would need to win six of their remaining games to catch us.
“And that would be a big ask for a team that’s only won four in the league all season.
“It’s a massive game in that regard but also because it offers the chance for us to keep our top-six hopes alive.
“I’d love to make the top six. But I also don’t want to see Falkirk go down.
“They saved my career at one stage, my girlfriend works for them and I still live in the area.
“So in an ideal world, we make the top six and they remain in the SPL.”
Leading scorer Craig is set to return to the starting line-up after being benched against Celtic.
And he has jokingly volunteered to solve the striker crisis Saints are facing with Kenny Deuchar, Steven Milne, Collin Samuel, Peter MacDonald and Andy Jackson all unavailable to boss Derek McInnes.
“The gaffer wanted to freshen things up with games coming thick and fast, that’s why I didn’t start at the weekend,” he said.
“If we are to make the top six we’ll have to use the full squad so he mixed it up for Saturday and I’m sure he’ll be doing the same for this match.
“I think I’ve played everywhere for St Johnstone and we are a bit short up front at the minute.
“I’ll play wherever the gaffer wants me to — but it would be a new one sticking me up there.
“Mind you, I’m desperate to get into double figures.
“I’ve got a bet on with one of my big mates that I’d get 10 or more league goals this season and without going into details it would be a nice one to win. I’ve got seven so far. So three more and I’d be happy.”
Without five attackers plus a string of long-term casualties in midfield and defence, McInnes, who thankfully has Cillian Sheridan eligible to feature again, is hoping Jody Morris and Filipe Morais both overcome niggles.
But for as lengthy a sick list as he is having to contend with, McInnes won’t accept or make excuses for any loss of momentum.
“I hear other managers talking about missing a couple of influential players,” he said. “But we find ourselves without 10 or 11 all told, which is incredible.
“We won’t let that affect what we are trying to achieve, however.
“Whoever is stripped, I would expect us to go and play well enough to win this game.
“The two matches we’ve had so far have been tight and competitive and I wouldn’t expect anything other than this tomorrow night.
“But if we produce a performance similar to the one we gave against Aberdeen then that would go a long way towards our being an SPL team next season.
“Falkirk are fighting and scrapping to stay in the league but the three points are every bit as important to us so I want the hungriest team to be in the St Johnstone dressing room.”
Meanwhile, Bairns manager Steven Pressley saluted Hearts-bound captain Darren Barr for shrugging off fans’ fears and proving he has no intention of leaving the club with it heading for the first division.
Barr’s decision earlier this year to agree a move to Tynecastle this summer raised eyebrows amongst the Bairns support, some of whom questioned whether the Scotland defender would have the stomach for the fight and even claimed he shouldn’t don the armband.
But Barr has responded in impressive fashion to drive Falkirk within three points of safety and Pressley yesterday hailed his efforts.
“I think Darren’s performances have been magnificent of late. He is playing like a warrior,” said the Falkirk boss.
“We are obviously disappointed to be losing Darren, as I’d like to work with him for a longer period of time.
“But the one thing that was never in doubt was his application between now and the end of the season.”
“He is determined not to leave the club on a sour note, he has made that clear in the dressing room, he doesn’t want to be the captain of the side who go down. He is desperate for success.
“I think for our supporters he has probably surpassed their expectations, he has been truly brilliant, a great leader, a leader by example.
“He is a winner, a credit to himself. Sometimes I think the game is lacking characters of his nature.”
Pressley, who is hoping for good news today when midfielder Vitor Lima has a scan on his knee injury, believes tonight could be pivotal to his side’s escape bid.
“The one thing about this group of players is that they have shown resilience,” he said.
“It really encourages me in terms of the fight for survival. I don’t see us going under.
“Saturday’s comeback draw at Hamilton gives us a base and we can add to that against St Johnstone.
“I think the team that gets momentum at this moment could be the one that quite possibly survives.”
Saints’ final SPL fixture before the split, against Aberdeen at Pittodrie, now takes place on Sunday, April 11 (12.15pm KO), and will be shown on ESPN.