Raith Rovers boss Grant Murray believes the pressure is on Falkirk when two of the Championship’s play-off hopefuls clubs meet this weekend, although he would still happily swap positions with the Bairns.
Rovers are enjoying a purple patch after being written off less than a month ago, registering wins over Alloa, Queen of the South and Hibernian last week to put themselves back in contention.
They are seven points behind fourth-placed Falkirk, but have a game in hand, while they are just five adrift of Queens.
Nevertheless, Murray is adamant Peter Houston’s side still occupy the box-seat in the race for the top four.
He said: “People will say that the pressure is all on Falkirk to stay in that top four spot after getting there, which might be fair enough, but I’d be delighted to be in their position.
“You would want that sort of pressure and the challenge of attempting to stay there as opposed to trying to make up ground as part of the chasing pack.
“But that’s all we can do at the moment win games like we have been doing in the past couple of weeks and see where that takes us.
“I’ll also be putting pressure on my players. I want them to go out every week and look to perform.”
Raith are yet to taste defeat against the Bairns this season, holding them to two draws at Stark’s Park and winning 1-0 on their only visit to the Falkirk Stadium in December.
That festive triumph proved to be the catalyst for a run of seven matches unbeaten, including a Scottish Cup win against Rangers and a 1-1 draw away to Hibernian.
“We are at the stage of the season where a good week, like we had last week, could put us in a very interesting position,” said Murray.
Falkirk will certainly hold no surprises for Murray, given he was in attendance for their 1-0 win over Cowdenbeath on Tuesday evening sitting alongside another play-off rival, Queens boss James Fowler.
Evidently Raith are now being taken seriously as contenders for a top-four finish.
Murray added: “I sat with James the other night and he mentioned how quickly things can change in football.
“He sees us as rivals to Queens, now. He has to because that gap has been closed.
“I’m sure he’ll be wary of us catching them however, like we are, he will be focused on his own team.”