It is getting crunch time in the Scottish Championship at both ends of the table. Although Hearts have wrapped up the league title and will return to the Premiership at the first time of asking, the promotion and relegation play-off picture is extremely competitive, whilst bottom spot is still to be decided. Cowdenbeath are very much involved in the relegation battle as they sit second bottom – six points clear of 10th placed Livingston and behind Alloa on goal difference but with the advantage of having played two games less. As things stand it looks like they are in a battle with Alloa to avoid finishing ninth and entering the lottery of the play-offs but they will also be looking over their shoulder if Livingston can pick up any kind of form.
With a Scottish Cup semi-final to look forward to next month, Falkirk can focus on moving into the top four and making the promotion play-offs. They have a four point gap to make up on Queen of the South who occupy the fourth spot at the moment but they have been in very good form of late and while be confident of mounting a sustained challenge between now and the end of the season. Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat to Hearts was a bit of setback but it was always going to be difficult against the runaway leaders and it will be their final game against those opponents this season having already played them three times previous. With Queens also playing away on Tuesday evening, it could be a crucial night for both clubs and their aspirations of finishing fourth.
Cowdenbeath do not only have the worst defensive record in the Championship, they have unwanted worst record in Scottish football having conceded 72 goals in the 28 league games played to date. Incredibly, Alloa have conceded 27 goals less, as have bottom club Livi. Their goals for record is also worse off than those two so it’s something of a surprise that they are actually not worse off in terms of their position. On closer inspection of their form, they have been on the end of some very heavy defeats including a 10-0, a 6-0 and conceding five goals on three separate occasions.
Falkirk have not lost a game away from home since the 8th of November. They have won six and drawn two of their last eight away game in all competitions, one of those being a hard fought 1-0 win against Queen of the South in the quarter final of the Cup. They are also the only team to beat Hearts in the league this season having beaten them 3-2 at Tynecastle back in January. They still have five huge games to play on their travels but if they can somehow continue to pick up points on their travels then you would have to believe they will be in a good position to grab fourth.
This game will have an effect at both ends of the table as the home side aim to leapfrog Alloa with any sort of positive result whilst a win for Falkirk will continue their pursuit of Queen of the South. It is very difficult to ignore how good Falkirk have been away from home and when you combine that with the fact that Cowdenbeath have picked up only one point from their last seven home games, the away win is the most likely outcome here.
Falkirk 4/6 @ Coral
