Grant relies on dad for cupcomfort

Falkirk defender headed straight for ex-Celtic star

GUTTED Peter Grant admitted that he sought out his father in the wake of Falkirk’s William Hill Scottish Cup defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Grant headed Falkirk level in the second period only for Inverness to score a late winner to take the trophy.

He was one of a number of Falkirk players reduced to tears on the pitch at the full-time whistle, but he believes that in time he will be able to take the positives from the day.

His parents watched the game and Grant has admitted that having the support of his father – former Celtic star Peter senior – was a source of solace for him given that he has also been through such disappointments in the game.

“It was heartbreaking, it really was,” he said.

“I went up to speak to the family who were here. It was great to see them and they were very proud of me.

“It is disappointing because we put so much into it. But if we can play like that against a team who have been flying this season, if we do that against the teams in our league next season, then we will have a good chance.”

Grant’s goal looked to have given Falkirk the edge against 10-man Inverness but the Highlanders hit on the break and a howler from goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald allowed them to seize a victory that few would have sensed was coming.

And Grant believes that Falkirk have to maintain that level of football next term in order that they can regard themselves as genuine promotion candidates in the Championship.

“We will recharge our batteries now and try to come back flying next season,” he said.

“We had the better momentum and I felt we were the better team. That was my opinion.

“Unfortunately it just wasn’t to be and you have to hold your hands up and say congratulations to Inverness.

“We had the quality to go and get the winner, we believed in ourselves.

“We felt like we could kick on and win it. I thought we got a bit unlucky with a couple of decisions but we need to pick ourselves up now.

“We could do no more and ultimately we just fell short.”

Peter Houston’s side will get the opportunity to take a breather now and Grant is optimistic that the nucleus of the squad will stay together.

And he believes they have the potential to build on what they have achieved by getting to the Scottish Cup final this season.

“We played really well as a team and we took it right to the end but it was a hard one to take,” he said.

“Hopefully the manager keeps the team together and we will be ready to get going again. We are going in the right direction, that’s for sure.”