Falkirk gaffer reveals whether he will watch Livi v Ayr clash as he previews potential title-winning weekend

The Bairns will be hoping that they have the opportunity to secure the Scottish Championship title this Saturday in front of a bumper home crowd against Raith Rovers.

They need to David Martindale’s side to drop points in West Lothian tonight for that to become a reality. But even of they cannot officially seal Premiership promotion - a win against the Stark’s Park outfit regardless of results elsewhere would all but finish the job with goal difference in Falkirk’s favour.

Manager McGlynn and his assistant Paul Smith are usually regular visitors at Championship matches when the Bairns aren’t playing, but this time around the management team will be watching BBC Scotland’s coverage instead.

Livingston v Ayr United match not important to Falkirk manager John McGlynn

Speaking ahead of what could be a title-winning weekend for the Bairns, McGlynn told the Falkirk Herald that his only focus is on the Raith Rovers clash.

“I'm not going along to the (Livi v Ayr) game,” he said. “If you're asking me if I'm going to watch it, I will watch it because I actually quite like watching the Scottish Championship games on a Friday night anyway. I would watch it because of that. It wouldn't have mattered what game it was.

“But we're very much focused on our game against the Rovers. We cannot take our eye off that. We've been preparing all week for that game and that is very much, as I say, our focus 100 per cent. Rovers have got a chance to get into the play-offs, so they'll be very much trying to win that game and put one over us.

“We want to get to 74 points as quickly as we possibly can. Seventy-three might be enough, with regards to the goal difference. So we know we need to get another three points, four points and that's it done and dusted. We know we want to try and beat Rovers on Saturday. That's our big thing that we're working towards.

“Yeah, I mean, there's a bit of excitement. But we've got to try and focus on the job. We had the club’s recognition awards night on Tuesday and again, there's high spirits involved. Nobody thinks we're over the line, but everyone is excited for this weekend

“We know that if we can win that game, that's the maximum points that Livingston can get and they need to overturn that goal difference. The boys have been at it in training. Their attitudes are first class and we're at full strength and you can't ask for any more than that going into this game.”

Invincible League One title run will help get Championship trophy over the line

The Bairns are going for second successive promotions after last year’s unbeaten Scottish League One title success - and that run-in will stand the current crop in good stead.

Falkirk secured the title away to Montrose with ease but they had to content with five matches that stood between them and going invincible. And the squad managed to navigate those matches, showing character, going down to ten men against Kelty Hearts and coming from two goals down on the final day against Alloa Athletic.

"Yeah, we take lessons from last season,” McGlynn recalled. “We were a good bit ahead in terms of points last season, much more than we are right now. Obviously, the league was won by now. The focus then was staying invincible. We managed to do that and that in itself has given us reassurance with regards to getting over the line.

“So we've been over the course in League One. As I said, it wasn't just a matter of winning the league, it was a matter of trying to stay invincible, which the guys did. And so they've kept that focus. Last week was going to be a difficult game down at Ayr United. So we look to finish the job this week if we possibly can and if not, it'll go to the next game. We know that we have to try and get to that magic number of 74, or 73 with our goal with difference if required and that's what we're planning to do."

Raith Rovers’ revival no surprise to former Stark’s Park gaffer John McGlynn

The Kirkcaldy club visit Falkirk this Saturday having chalked up a seven-match unbeaten run. And Barry Robson’s side will believe that they can pip Partick Thistle to the final promotion play-off spot with three games to go.

On his ex-club, McGlynn said: "Both teams have lots to play for. I think they're in their best spell of the season, unbeaten in seven games. They beat Ayr just two weeks ago. They've been a little bit of an issue for Livingston as well. We went there after the Scottish Cup tie and won at Starks Park and we won here earlier in the season. I know a lot of their players. Their front three, Jamie Gullan, Dylan Easton and Lewis Vaughan who played last week, they're all very, very good players. All very, very capable of scoring goals.

“So we know that we're going to have to be our best, but we also play very well out in our park. We love playing out here in front of our fans. We want to put on a really, really good performance and in an ideal world get the three points and then we'll be nearly there.

“Yes, that's exactly what we're trying to do (winning the title at home). We want to earn it ourselves and of course we will have done that by accumulating at this moment in time 70 points. So we've accumulated those points over 33 games So yes, we want to go to Saturday and we know it's a difficult game, but we want to do it ourselves. We want to go and win the league ourselves.”