Falkirk Rugby Club: Russell wants sights set higher than fifth

The defeat keeps Falkirk in fifth place in the Tennent’s Scottish National League 2, five points from fourth spot, which Russell believes should be the minimum aim for the side considering the quality they have within the squad.

He said: “I would have hoped at this point in the year we would have been slightly higher up.

"We’ve lost games early on that we should have won and it has really cost us.

"The division is so competitive so you can’t give anything anyway and we have done, numerous times which is frustrating.”

Looking back on the match at the Gytes on Saturday, he said: “It was a really disappointing one for us to lose.

"Now we’re in the final part of the league campaign so every game has that extra bit of importance.

"Peebles is a very tough place to go at any time, but I think our lack of a consistent run of matches played a part.”

Russell added: "We haven’t played for a couple of weeks and you could see that with our lack of sharpness.

"Especially with the conditions down there, the underfoot of the pitch was really boggy and heavy.

"We want to play a certain style which doesn’t really suit those conditions.”

Despite the stop-start nature of the league season so far due to weather postponements and Covid-19 call-offs, he didn’t want to use that as an excuse for their league standing.

“It’s been the same for a number of the teams in the league, and at some points the breaks are helpful,” the captain said.

“We lacked cohesion in our attacking structure so when we found ourselves in decent positions we didn’t take advantage.

“The things we normally do, we didn’t do and that was how we lost the match.”

He pointed to the young players coming up into the squad as a reason for the inconsistency, saying that blooding in talent for a couple of league placings is a trade off he’s happy to accept.

He said: “They are learning how to play at a decent level, and how to work within a 15 in a match setting, which will only make them better which is good for them and for the club.”