Falkirk admit 'crazy' factor that's pushed Hibs towards Europe as tall order now needed to dislodge Hibees
Falkirk were put to the sword by a strong Hibs performance.
Falkirk boss John McGlynn admits Hibs are odds-on for fifth after a 3-1 win over his side on Saturday.
A storming first half performance from the Hibees saw them emerge with three huge Premiership points. With two games to go at Rangers and then at home to Motherwell, they are five clear of Falkirk in sixth, as fifth could become a European spot if Celtic win the Scottish Cup against Dunfermline Athletic.
McGlynn admits that his side’s chances of going across waters in the summer are pretty much toast. As well as a white flag being waved on racing for Europe, McGlynn admitted there are some concerns over the likes of Filip Lissah and Leon McCann ahead of Wednesday’s match with Hearts, with Tynecastle loanee Lewis Neilson ineligible.
Can Falkirk finish in a European spot?
McGlynn said: “Hibs are a big, strong physical team, that's the way they played as well, they used all of that. But we have to stand up and be counted, we've got to defend it much, much better. We don't defend it. And we lose a goal very early which gives Hibs a lot of encouragement. We got back in it after, getting down the sides, but we didn’t create much.
“We made good openings but our final ball or movement in the box wasn’t quite right. We caught get out again for the second goal and it was another that was badly defended. Our defending was really poor on the day. We had the same defence as last week, they could get a clean sheet against Motherwell, a team that scored three goals against Rangers the week before.
“That just sums up football. It's crazy how we didn't defend these situations better. The third goal again was scrappy and untidy. We should have stopped the cross from source. Hibs sat deep in the second half and we couldn’t find that final piece of the jigsaw often enough. We scored a good goal through Ben (Broggio) but we didn’t get that second goal to reach that ‘game on’ situation.”
Falkirk injury latest ahead of Hearts
“We are disappointed. We knew that we could go above Hibs today with a win. Now, we have to win two games and hope that Hibs lose two. Mathematically it is possible to finish fifth but I always felt that it was a long shot. Coming into the top six, five points behind Hibs with just five games, it was a tall order to pull off.”
“Leon’s (McCann) hamstring was giving him a bit of bother. Filip’s (Lissah) ankle was giving him a bit of bother. Filip just walked out of the stadium there which is promising because the way he landed out on the pitch at the time - it looked like it could have been a really bad one.
“It will cause us problems going into Wednesday night’s game because it is so close. There is no real recovery time. Lewis Neilson can’t play either against Hearts so you have to add that into the mix also.”