Despite Falkirk manager John Hughes' many challenges to his squad, they keep losing and are now a team with an eight game losing streak behind them. Hughes and his team have a significant barrier to get past if they don't want to see that run reach nine as they welcome Celtic on Sunday. The Bairns boss still believes his players can finish the season seventh in the SPL. A dramatic sharp drop of form in recent weeks has seen Falkirk knocked out of both cup competitions and their top-six hopes ended. Falkirk Stadium on Sunday will see the home side fight to win a game for one reason while Gordon Strachan's men will be looking to quickly bounce back from last weekend's Old Firm defeat. Falkirk have reserved some of their best displays this term for more illustrious opponents and Hughes sees no reason why Falkirk cannot halt their slide to secure seventh spot.
He said: "It's all down to the boys now. I've asked questions and I can now see who has the character and belief to go and give me the answers. Right from the start of the season, our first remit was to stay in the SPL. Along the way, we've got to a semi-final (of the CIS Insurance Cup) and we've had some fantastic results. Obviously, the top six is now out of our grasp, but there is nothing stopping us from finishing in seventh spot. I still have real desire and commitment and people have to remember where we've come from. If you'd said to my team eight games ago, you would've already reached the points total of last season, then everyone would have bitten your hand off."
Hughes is a great admirer of Strachan's Celtic but fears any chance of either team playing a passing game on Sunday could be hampered by the Falkirk pitch. He added: "We've got great respect for them, from Gordon Strachan to his coaching staff. You can see with the way they go about their game that there is a lot of work done on the training pitch. Both sides like to play football but I don't know if the surface is going to allow for a slick, slick game. But we're looking forward to it, will have a go and enjoy it because we've come a long way in the last four to six years."
