Falkirk winger Calvin Miller insists there’s no need to hit the panic button as the Bairns prepare for a high-stakes final-day shootout this Friday night.
Despite a three-game winless run that has seen John McGlynn’s men allow Livingston to draw level on 70 points, Falkirk remain top of the Scottish Championship on goal difference and know a better result than Livi—who host Partick Thistle—will see them crowned champions and clinch top-flight promotion.
For Miller, who has racked up a superb 11 goals and 11 assists this season, there’s no suggestion that the pressure has derailed their focus going into this pivotal home clash against struggling Hamilton Academical.
“Not at all,” the 27-year-old said when asked if recent form had sparked concern. “Maybe just doing a wee bit more defending because we have been conceding a lot in the last couple of minutes of games. So, maybe that aspect of it. But obviously the main focus is going on winning the next game.”
That single-minded mindset has typified a Falkirk side revitalised under McGlynn’s leadership—and Miller has been at the heart of it. The former Celtic academy product is one of two Bairns stars, along with midfielder Brad Spencer, nominated for the PFA Scotland Championship Player of the Year award.
Pressed if it’s been the best campaign of his career, Miller said: “Aye, I think it's just continuing from my form last season and consistency. I'm enjoying my football and it's showed again when we've moved up again. I would say I'm playing my best football here at Falkirk.
"It's about doing the same things consistently and I suppose it's just shown on the pitch."
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Miller’s journey to becoming one of the Championship’s standout performers has been anything but linear. After spells in England with Harrogate Town, Notts County, and Chesterfield, he returned north and found a spark at Morton. But it was his 2023 switch to Falkirk that he calls the turning point.
“It absolutely revived my career again,” he admitted. “Because I'd obviously went down south and stuff and I never went down with my family, I was there myself and I wanted home a lot.
“Then I came back up and after playing in the Scottish leagues again I've felt revived. I was at Morton, I done well there and thought where am I going to go here?
“Then John [McGlynn] the gaffer at Falkirk said their football suited me to a T. I know I had to move down a league again to move back up but the whole aim was to play attractive football and get a big club like Falkirk to the Championship—and that's essentially what we done in my first season here.”
McGlynn’s message for the finale at the Falkirk Stadium? It’s been the same all season: win.
“Win our next game,” Miller said. “We've been so consistent throughout the whole season, we look to win every game. We wouldn't be going into a game looking for draws or anything like that. I don't think we ever have the full entire time this season. It's always been about trying to win every game and that's what we've been doing.”
With a handful of Scottish Premiership appearances from his Celtic days, Miller knows what lies ahead if Falkirk finish the job on Friday—and he’s desperate for a return to that stage.
