The Bairns have changed managers but they still have a familiar fight to face this season.

Scott Arfield is looking forward to a period of tranquillity at Falkirk. The Scotland under-21 midfielder spent most of last season working towards a Scottish Cup final appearance against Rangers while simultaneously fighting the drop out of the SPL. The Bairns avoided the drop on the last day of the season, the 1-0 win at Inverness enough to send the hosts down. However, John Hughes' men lost the Hampden final to Rangers in May. Things have not got much better this season as new manager Eddie May has watched Falkirk fail to win any of their first seven SPL games. The club are currently bottom of the table with only three points to show for their efforts and even this early in the season, the prospect of relegation looms large.

Arfield has other some distraction this week as he teamed up with his Scotland Under-21 team mates for the European Championship qualifier against Belarus at St Mirren Park on Saturday. He said: "A wee happy medium wouldn't be too bad but it's about finding that happy medium. You look at the table and it doesn't lie. It was great staying up last season and the Inverness game was brilliant but you don't want to be involved in that again. We went five games last season without a win until we beat Hearts so we need to find our feet this season. We all have self-belief and confidence but it's about getting that first win, it's about getting that monkey off our back and that could kick-start our season. We have created chances in every game and there have been positives to take from each match, apart from Saturday's defeat by Motherwell. We didn't perform at all. We played better in the second half but that might have been Motherwell taking the foot off the gas a wee bit. We have to look at ourselves and we have a massive game against St Mirren when we return after the international break. Hopefully we can get the win and start going up the table."

Billy Stark's side look to get back to winning ways after losing 1-0 against their Austria counterparts last month, following wins home and away against Albania. Arfield said: "It's always good to meet up with the best young players in Scotland, regardless of how you are doing in the league. It would be great if we could qualify for the finals of the tournament."

Editor
Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)

Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)

This is ScottishFitba Net