Russell Up A Cup Win And We'll Kick On

Sep 23 2007 By Gordon Waddell

Falkirk V Dundee Utd Tuesday, Kick-Off 7.45pm

RUSSELL LATAPY watched 90 minutes of CIS Cup football wreck a season's worth of work for Falkirk earlier this year.

Now he's hoping another 90 can have the opposite effect and kick-start a torrid term.

The Bairns' semi-final defeat by Kilmarnock, dumped by a Stevie Naismith hat-trick, started a sequence of eight straight losses that crushed their dreams of League Cup glory, a run in the Scottish Cup and a top-six SPL finish.

With Dundee United standing between Bairns and a quarter-final spot on Tuesday the Trinidadian is confident a result can spark a positive run this time.

Latapy, who scored the winner in a 1-0 win over Motherwell yesterday, said: "A cup run can make your season at clubs like Falkirk because we know we're not competing to win the league.

"The CIS Cup is the one we're most likely to win. But that result knocked us back badly and we took too long to recover. I didn't even watch Hibs beat Killie in the final.

"We're looking forward to it again now though. We haven't started the season the way we wanted but a cup win over an SPL team can kick-start our season.

"The great thing about cups is you don't have to be consistent. You can get lucky in the draw and reach the final in a few games."

Latapy has one CIS medal to his name - ironically won for Rangers against his gaffer John Hughes and Ayr United.

Now Hughes is helping steer a course for Latapy he admits could see him play on beyond this season and until he's 40.

He said: "I've played about 160 games for Falkirk now so there's a temptation to get to 200 because not many players have done that for the club.

"If my body allows I might get to about 180 this season so who knows after that?"