Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin admits the quality in the Falkirk squad will make it difficult for him to end his Bairns hoodoo, but insists his side can upset the Championship title favourites.

Since taking the reins at Accies in 2022, Rankin has suffered five straight defeats and managed one draw in his six meetings with the Bairns.

While John McGlynn's men are chasing consecutive promotions having comfortably beaten Accies to the League One crown last term, the South Lanarkshire side are fighting it out at the wrong end of the table, scrapping for points down in eighth place to stay in the division.

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Falkirk needed a late Callumn Morrison goal in a 1-0 win over Accies in the last meeting in December, but have since added former Rangers star Scott Arfield to the ranks, with the Canadian international bagging five goals in his first three games.

So Rankin knows his side will have to produce something special in front of the Accies faithful today to put an end to their dismal record.

He said: "We know it is a big challenge. Falkirk are on a good run - they always seem to be on a good run - and they have some good players, but it is a test we are looking forward to.

"When we played there earlier in the season, they were bringing on players like Callumn Morrison to try and break us down and now they've gone and signed Scott Arfield, so the quality they have at their disposal is strong.

"But we just need to believe in ourselves. We should be able to go and compete with Falkirk, but it is about having that self-belief that we play to our strengths. If we can do that, I think it will be an interesting afternoon.

"We gave a good account of ourselves at Falkirk Stadium last time out and we are going in off the back of a good result in midweek."

Accies claimed a vital 1-0 win over nearest rivals Dunfermline on Tuesday night, which has them three points clear of the relegation play-off going into the final 10 games.

But Rankin admits he now has a few injury concerns to contend with. He added: "There's some bodies struggling so we'll have to assess them ahead of the game. It will need to be a squad effort from now until the end of the season.

"When you go Saturday-Tuesday, Saturday-Tuesday, there is always going to be issues, niggles and strains.

"We will give the players until the last moment but there is no point in breaking somebody if they are feeling fatigue or any concerns.

"We got our balance right against Dunfermline in midweek and we'll have to do that again to get anything out of this game."