This match will not decide who goes down and who stays up, however it is a classic relegation six pointer. Saints are currently one place and three points better off than Falkirk and have a superior goal difference - and last season shows just how vital that can be. We can afford not to win, but that's a dangerous approach. We haven't won an SPL game on the road since our last trip to Westfield in October and it would be a massive boost to go into the final five games with a win - especially one recorded against our main relegation rivals. Falkirk will believe they can take victory and will be doing everything to get all three points - they beat Motherwell last week and Steven Pressley has been saying they'll stay up ever since he took over in February - a statement that is based on hope rather than anything factual. However, it's more positive than anything you'll hear coming from our club.
Tomorrow's game is nowhere near as vital as our trip to Grangemouth last May, but a repeat performance on and off the park is required. The players were unbelievable on their way to recording a 2-0 win in a game where defeat would have confirmed relegation. It was Hollywood movie stuff, where the struggling team who have won just once all year suddenly pulls off a dramatic victory to all but secure their safety. Every player was outstanding, and every fan in the stands sang their heart out. I wasn't there, but even listening to the game I could tell the team had great vocal backing that day and it transferred itself to the pitch. A repeat of both the players' display and the fans support, 11 months on, would go down well and could lead to a crucial win.
As this is more of a must not lose, rather than a must win, game for Saints, it would not be a surprise to see us go with just one up front. Certainly, that's what happened when we had a similar game at Dunfermline three years ago - and we ended up with a point. In games if this nature, Gus MacPherson nearly always goes with a cautious, rather than cavalier, approach on the basis that a point means the gap can't have been closed. Our injury problems also make such a strategy more likely. Billy Mehmet went off during last week's draw with Hearts with an injury and is doubtful, as is Craig Dargo, while Tom Brighton is still out long term. That just leaves us with former Falkirk player Michael Higdon, who scored a screamer against the Bairns in December. Deploying him on his tod up front would perhaps rough up a few Falkirk defenders, but I don't think he has the required work rate to lead the line on his own. Of course, there's always on-loan Rangers striker Rory Loy, who could start alongside Higdon, but last week's game against the Jambos suggests MacPherson will do anything but turn to the youngster in situations like these. Perhaps he's only allowed a few minutes each week under his loan deal.
It's not just up front we have injury problems. Former Bairns Jack Ross and Steven Thomson suffered injuries last week and both are major doubts for this one. With Steven Robb and David Barron also out, our game plan will be restricted by who is fit enough to start. Garry Brady or Stephen O'Donnell are the most likely options for replacing Thomson, but Ross' potential absence is a major worry - especially if Robb and Barron do remain in the stands. A back four would see Lee Mair at right-back with Graham Carey - who proved last week he isn't a defender - on the other side. A back three would involve the likes of Hugh Murray or Andy Dorman shunted out to the right side of the midfield, which is bad when we're playing with a midfield four, let alone a five. Let's just hope some of our walking wounded are classed merely as walking come 3pm tomorrow afternoon.
Pressley is taking his first steps in management after taking over from the relatively woeful Eddie May a few months ago and, considering Falkirk's position, they have done reasonably well. Since sitting down in the Westfield hotseat, Pressley has guided the teams to wins over Motherwell and Aberdeen (the latter not difficult if you aren't Saints) and has picked up a number of handy points in draws. That's allowed them to close in on both Saints and Kilmarnock, meaning we'll have a three way battle for the drop after the split. It would be exciting if we weren't involved - again!
I don't quite understand why Falkirk, and in particular May, struggled so much. There may have been a number of summer departures - like Higdon, Kevin McBride, Steve Lovell and Paddy Cregg - but they still had a good squad following the departure of John Hughes. Darren Barr is a great defender, who'll be plying his trade with Hearts next year. Before leaving, he'll want to guide his side to safety, similar to the way Kirk Broadfoot inspired Saints' bid to beat the drop in 2007. May brought Brian McLean in to play alongside him this season and he's been good along with Tam Scobbie and Marc Twaddle. Behind them, Robert Olejnik is a good keeper while in midfield they have the talented Scott Arfield, who has attracted interest from bigger clubs (and Hamilton) in the last year or so. They also have former Saint Burton O'Brien, who left Love Street 11 years ago to seek fame and fortune with Blackburn Rovers. Up front, despite the departures, they also had Carl Finnigan, who has bagged a few goals this season.
To make things even more baffling to a moron like me, May made some rather astute signings during his time in charge. He brought Portuguese duo Vitor Lima and Pedro Moutinho back to the club, the latter scoring a decent number of goals, while he also brought in midfielder Pele (not that one) and young winger Ryan Flynn, who will sign permanently in the summer after being brought in on loan from Liverpool. January also saw the arrival of former Celtic and Sunderland midfielder Colin Healy and ex Leeds forward Enoch Showunmi, two impressive signings. If the latter plays, his power together with Finnigan's pace and Flynn's tricker could cause our backline plenty of problems.
Our record at Falkirk is pretty good compared to when they played at Brockville, and we've won on each of our last three visits. We also seem to have a pretty good success rate when we face them towards the end of the season - we've won every time we've gone there in April or May, a trend that would be nice to continue on Saturday.
To finish with is a rather worrying omen. Tomorrow is my birthday. I can only twice remember us playing on my birthday before - we lost 1-0 to Queen of the South in 2004 and were hammered 5-1 by Morton in 1999. I wasn't at either game, and won't be at Westfield, but fingers crossed it'll be third time lucky!