MORTON ace Andy Murdoch reckons his side must be wary of a Falkirk backlash this weekend following the sacking of boss Peter Houston last Sunday.

The Bairns have suffered a disastrous beginning to the new Championship campaign having picked up just three points from a possible 21. 

And with manager Houston, inset, axed, interim boss Alex Smith has a tough first fixture on his hands heading to Cappielow.

But midfield dynamo Murdoch insists Ton have to be careful against a frustrated Falkirk because their players are playing for their futures. 

And he thinks teams who are without gaffers can be considered 
‘unpredictable’.

He told the Tele: “Falkirk haven’t had the best start to the season but it will definitely be a tough game for us. They have always been a decent team and whoever is in charge will want to make an impression. 

“Meanwhile the players will obviously also want to make an impression on whoever that is who’s in charge.

“Teams can be unpredictable when they have been taken over by a new manager but we’ve got to stick with our own game plan. It’s not for me to judge.”

Despite the warning to his team-mates, Murdoch believes Ton have the ability to see off the threat of Falkirk — like they did last season, playing five times, winning twice and drawing the other three clashes.

Murdoch added: “We managed to get some really good results against Falkirk last season and obviously we hope to be able to do the same again by starting well against them on Saturday. We really want the three points.

“Do we have an advantage in terms of confidence? 

“I honestly don’t think so. I think everyone in this league is very tough to play against, so you might go in confident because everyone can beat everyone else in this league — we’ve all said that before.

“We need to be on our guard.”

Murdoch played a full 90 minutes against Dundee United last weekend at Tannadice despite missing Morton’s 2-1 victory over Queen of the South the previous Saturday at Palmerston.

And the 22-year-old is confident his calf problem was a one-off.

He said: “It was just a bit of a dead leg I picked up in the days leading up to the game against Queen of the South. 

“I couldn’t really run on it on the Friday so I couldn’t play. But it’s fine now.”