Will Ayr delay Falkirk title party? Watch on BBC

Scott Arfield has made a tremendous impact since his return to Falkirk

Scottish Championship: Ayr United v Falkirk

Where: Somerset Park, Ayr When: Friday, 11 April Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Coverage: Live on BBC Scotland and BBC Sport website & app

Falkirk will take a huge step towards clinching the Scottish Championship title if they can win away at Ayr United on Friday in front of the BBC Scotland cameras.

Victory for John McGlynn's side would open up an 11-point lead on nearest challengers Livingston, who would need victory away to Greenock Morton on Saturday to keep the contest going.

However, Falkirk have lost both of their visits to Somerset Park this season and the hosts have their own pressing agenda since finishing second means one less round of matches in the arduous promotion play-off phase.

A 1-0 defeat away to Raith Rovers last weekend means Ayr trail Livingston by three points on the final stretch.

There was only one goal in it when Ayr beat Falkirk in the League Cup back in July, but the Honest Men took full advantage of an early red card for Ross Graham to smash in five in the previous Championship meeting on their own patch.

That was one of of only five second-tier defeats for last season's League One invincibles - Livingston dished out three others.

The second of those losses to Livi reduced the gap at the top to a single point at the turn of the year, then McGlynn played a trump card with the signing of Scott Arfield after the 36-year-old left Bolton Wanderers.

The former Rangers, Burnley and Canada midfielder, who started his career at Falkirk before leaving in 2010, took just 46 seconds to score on his way to a hat-trick on his debut against Partick Thistle.

Arfield has not looked back and his tally stands at eight goals in nine appearances to join Brad Spencer and Calvin Miller as Falkirk's top scorers in the league. The other two have played 21 games more.

Of course, Ayr made a high-profile signing of their own halfway through last term, with Scott Brown arriving as head coach when their Championship status was under threat.

The former Celtic captain has built impressively on that rescue mission.

In early March, United were three points behind Falkirk, but they have won just once in five outings since.

With their play-off place already secure, this showdown under the Friday night lights and the next - away to Livingston - will go a long way to determining where Ayr start in their bid for promotion.

Falkirk might not get the deal done this weekend, but the champagne is cooling for a second successive title party to end a 15-year long wait to return to the top flight.