Barney Stewart hopes to end dream Falkirk season with more goals against top six

Falkirk forward Barney Stewart is intent on finishing his dream campaign off by notching another couple of goals against top-six opposition.

The 22-year-old, who was playing non-league football with Heriot-Watt University 18 months ago, has enjoyed a stunning rise this term to become one of the William Hill Premiership’s most highly-regarded strikers.

Stewart has scored eight top-flight goals – plus two in the Scottish Cup – since returning to Falkirk from a fruitful loan stint at Dunfermline in January and is intent on taking his league tally into double figures over the closing four matches of the campaign.

“Obviously, it’s been a great season for me personally, but I’d love for the rise to keep continuing,” said the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year nominee.

“Obviously it’ll be tough because we’ve got all the hardest teams in the league to go, so to get a few more stats would be great. But I’m happy with what’s happened but I’d love to score against all the big teams.

“I’ve actually been quite poor for that this season, looking at my records. I’ve walked away from those games happy with my individual performance, but a goal would just be the cherry on top. I’d like to hit 10 before the end of the season, so that’s the personal aim.”

After forcing his way into the Scotland Under-21s fold this term, Stewart has been touted as a dark horse to make Steve Clarke’s full squad for the World Cup.

“Personally I think there’s so many other good strikers in and around the Scotland set-up that it might be a little bit too soon for myself to be there, but you never know,” he said.

“It’s great that my name’s in these conversations. It means I’ve been doing something right. I just take confidence from it.”