McGrath: We're Looking Up Ahead Of Falkirk Clash

Jamie McGrath was "severely disappointed" by last weekend's Scottish Cup exit, but insists the entire team is now fully focused on the task at hand ahead of Saturday's trip to Falkirk.

After avoiding defeat for five consecutive league matches, David Gray's men went into their Scottish Gas Scottish Cup tie against Dunfermline Athletic in strong form - but a stoppage-time own goal sent the Pars through to the next round at our expense.

Extremely disappointed by the missed opportunity to potentially secure silverware this season, McGrath told the media that the shock defeat has been analysed and attention now turns back to climbing the William Hill Premiership table. 

"It was a damaging result on Saturday for us. We had plans to go far, if not try get some silverware for us this season. So ultimately we are very, very disappointed. Being on the pitch, you obviously feel that disappointment, not being able to change the result.

"We're severely disappointed, and the way we lost makes it ever worse. But now we have a game on Saturday to look forward to, we’re five unbeaten [in the league], so we’ll be looking to go over there and keep that run going.

"We always assess every game no matter what, good or bad, on a Monday morning," the Irish international added. "Nothing changed in that aspect, it’s all about looking forward now. We need to stay in the mix, to catch that team ahead of us if we can. That’s our goal now at the moment."

The midfielder found the net in our last trip to the Falkirk Stadium, though the Bairns fought back to earn a 2-2 draw - though our most recent meeting finished a comfortable 3-0 win for Hibs.

Despite that professional performance at Easter Road in early December, McGrath understands this will be a "difficult" match against a side with quality both on the pitch and in the dugout. 

"As I touched on, we’re five league games unbeaten, we want to keep that run going as long as we can. We’re going to Falkirk, it’ll be a difficult game, we’ve been there already this season, it’s a good atmosphere. We went two goals up and it ended up two-all each.

"Then we played them a few weeks ago and it was a good result, but they’re a good side, with a good manager and good players."

Hibernian currently sit fifth in the Premiership standings, just two points behind fourth-place Motherwell. Upcoming opponents, Falkirk, are five points behind the Hibees in sixth; placing greater importance on this weekend's clash against John McGlynn's side.

While a victory over the side directly below us is key, McGrath reiterated that the squad are looking up, rather than down, the league table. 

"We’re not looking behind us. We’re looking to catch the team ahead of us, that’s our goal. It’s Motherwell, we need to catch them if we can.

"We know the importance of the top six, and if we get a good result tomorrow it’ll put us in a good position.

"Falkirk are the team directly below us, so it’s a big game for us. We can put a bit of distance between us and them while also catching the teams above us."