Falkirk boss John McGlynn sees opportunity in free hit against Celtic

John McGlynn says his Falkirk side have “a free hit” in their match against Celtic in midweek, after already hitting the target he set for them.

Last season’s Championship winners have excelled on their return to the top flight, and currently sit in the top half of the table after a run of impressive results, with a 2-0 win at St Mirren on Saturday their latest win.

McGlynn revealed that win meant the team had reached their target of 30 points from the first two rounds of Premiership fixtures and have now reached that point with a game to spare.

“Yeah, nine points from a possible 12,” he said. “And even the game we lose, it is a penalty handball.

“We lost that game to Dundee, and you’ve seen the form that Dundee have been in after that as well. So we’re in a good place.

“We’re very happy. We targeted 30 points and we got to 30 points. There’s still one game to get played in this round of games.

“So it’s kind of a free hit from that point of view, we’ve got the target set, we’ve done the target.

“No handbrake on, we can go and have a right go in this game.”

The manager also shared his happiness at adding Louie Marsh to his squad on loan from Sheffield United until the end of the season. The former England Under-20 player is the second arrival of 2026, following striker Ben Parkinson, who signed from Newcastle United.

“Again, a bit similar to Ben actually, we had eyes on him in the summer,” McGlynn said.

“We were kind of told he would be staying at Sheffield United, which he did. They thought he was going to get a chance.

“Sheffield didn’t start off the season so well, and then there was a change of manager, so he never really got the opportunity that he would have been hoping for.

“So when it came to January, due to probably a lack of goals in our team over a wee spell there, we were looking at the top end of the pitch and you see that from bringing Ben in.

“Louie is a proper number 10 and he’s got quality. He’s a little bit taller than what we’ve got in these kind of positions.

“We’re always trying to add some height into the team because we’ve found in the Premiership, that’s a big aspect as well. He’s a quality player.”