Falkirk counting cost of Scottish Cup semi-final defeat as trio are sidelined

Falkirk have lost three key players to injury on the back of their Hampden defeat.

Goalkeeper Scott Bain and defenders Liam Henderson and Filip Lissah will miss Saturday’s trip to Celtic Park after picking up injuries in the Scottish Cup semi-final against Dunfermline.

There is uncertainty over when Scotland international Bain will return but manager John McGlynn does not expect him to be in danger of missing out on a potential trip to the World Cup.

“Scott could be an issue,” McGlynn said. “He hurt his ankle and got a scan on it. There’s nothing broken but there’s a little bit of bone bruising and it’s a bit tender. It’s not straightforward.

“I don’t think it’s going to go into the summer. If anything it might be a two or three-week thing. He might still be able to get a game in before the end of the season. Fingers-crossed.

“Liam Henderson has got a little bit of a hamstring injury. Not too serious but it’s not cleared up enough in time for Saturday.

“Filip has been nursing something on his ankle which showed up a little bit in the MRI scan. We’ll need to manage him between now and the end of the season. He’s not going to be able to play this week.

“He might be able to give us something between now and the end of the season.”

McGlynn has challenged his team to get over their shoot-out loss by pushing for fifth spot and a potential European place.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s been difficult,” he said. “It was a sore one for us. Each and every one of us.

“Monday was quite sombre, going over the analysis on it. However, you need to kick yourself up the backside and get on with it, and that’s basically what we’ve done.

“Hibs are the closest to us, there’s five points. We want to try and narrow that down as best as we can and try to give it a go because Europe is still a possibility. It’s a tall order but that’s exactly what we’ve got to do.”