John McGlynn ‘could never have imagined’ Falkirk’s start to Premiership season

John McGlynn admits Falkirk’s start to life in the William Hill Premiership has been beyond his wildest expectations.

A third of the way through the campaign, the newly-promoted Bairns sit sixth in the table, within two points of Hibernian and Rangers and five points clear of both Aberdeen and Dundee United.

“No, not even in a dream,” said manager McGlynn when asked if he could have envisaged such a scenario at the start of the campaign. “No chance.

“But we are there and we’re there on merit. Like winning the Championship, we did it on merit. We’ve gone into this league and we’re in a position based on merit.

“The players have been amazing to be in that position considering some of them have never played there before and we’re playing against teams and players that have been in the league for a number of seasons.

“We’ve adapted really well. As you can hear (from the noise from the adjacent dressing-room), we’re just trying to get them off the roof right now and trying to keep their feet on the ground.

“I could never have imagined this.”

The main blemish for McGlynn this term has been the number of long-term injuries he has had to deal with, and he reported on Friday, ahead of Sunday’s trip to Rangers, that striker Gary Oliver has become the latest player to be sidelined.

“Gary’s picked up a hamstring injury,” said McGlynn. “The physios told me this morning after the scan that he’ll be about eight weeks out, which is a blow.”