Source: Team_Talk
Pressley: Bairns can handle pressure
Falkirk go into their relegation decider with Kilmarnock needing a win but Steven Pressley feels the Ayrshire side are under most pressure.[LNB] Falkirk go into their relegation decider with Kilmarnock needing a victory but manager Steven Pressley feels the Ayrshire side face a bigger test of their ability to cope under pressure.[LNB]Kilmarnock's second-half comeback at Aberdeen last night ensured Jimmy Calderwood's men go into the Rugby Park clash two points ahead of their opponents, who drew a blank at home to St Johnstone.[LNB]But Pressley has been encouraged by the way his players have handled the burden of being bottom of the Scottish Premier League for all but one week of the last eight months.[LNB]While Falkirk are used to playing with that pressure, Pressley feels an expectant home support could be an added strain on Kilmarnock, who face the most serious threat to their top-flight safety since they were promoted 17 years ago.[LNB]Pressley said: "We've been hanging on to the coat tails of teams for the last four or five months and we've shown a great deal of resilience in that period.[LNB]"Now we have an opportunity where it comes down to 90 minutes of football.[LNB]"We know what it's all about in terms of handling that, now I think there is a greater amount of pressure on Kilmarnock than at any other time.[LNB]"So it's going to make for a very interesting afternoon.[LNB]"We are a team who has played with the pressures for a long, long period.[LNB]"We have found ourselves in a situation where in certain games we know, if we lose, we lose touch with the teams above us.[LNB]"We have had to handle that and our younger players have handled that exceptionally well."[LNB]Pressley added: "I sometimes think in these types of games it can be easier playing away from home.[LNB]"There is sometimes a nervousness about a home support in high-pressure games and we have to use that to our advantage."[LNB]Pressley's comments are unlikely to find favour at Rugby Park and come on the back of his claim that "certain people in the football community" want his club to go down.[LNB]But he insists his players are focused on staying up to please themselves rather than silencing their critics.[LNB]"I think the most important thing isn't about proving to other people, it's about proving to ourselves as a group," the former Scotland defender said.[LNB]"We have been through a lot together and the players have had to deal with a great deal during the season, and first and foremost we have to do it for ourselves. The players have a real determination to do that."[LNB]Victory for Falkirk would mirror last season's finale, when they got off the bottom of the SPL 20 minutes from the end of the campaign when Michael Higdon netted the only goal of their must-win match at Inverness.[LNB]Higdon has since departed to St Mirren but Pressley, who was suspended that day, believes the experience of the likes of midfielder Burton O'Brien will be crucial in emulating that triumph.[LNB]The former Hearts captain said: "A degree of composure and a mentality that we don't fear the game, that's what we need. I look back at last season's game and we had that.[LNB]"Burton O'Brien brought a great deal of composure to the side on a very difficult day and he is obviously still involved now.[LNB]"We will be looking for the likes of Burton to show his maturity in this game."
