Falkirk

Falkirk charged back into the Scottish Premiership top six with a narrow win over Aberdeen that doomed the visitors to a fifth game without a win.

Read the full match report here.

Have your say here.

Falkirk charged back into the Scottish Premiership top six with a narrow win over Aberdeen that doomed the visitors to a fifth game without a win.

Read the full match report here.

Have your say here.

Image source, SNS

Falkirk manager John McGlynn: "We could have added to the scoreline, we had opportunities to do that. But the win was fully merited, the stats back that up as well.

"We've taken 12 points in this round of games, with two left. We set a target of getting to 15, which we got in the first round, so we're within touching distance of that.

"We did a lot right. Give Aberdeen some compliments on their defending, they blocked a lot. We're doing the right things, getting into the right places. If we weren't doing that, I'd be concerned. On another day, we score two or three there."

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Falkirk manager John McGlynn is happy with the strength of his squad as he prepares to begin 2026 with a home meeting with Aberdeen.

Midfielder Aidan Nesbitt made his first appearance since August when he came off the bench in last weekend's 1-0 defeat by Dundee, while centre-half Coll Donaldson is ready for his return after more than eight months out with an abdominal injury.

Falkirk also have striker Barney Stewart back in their ranks after the 21-year-old netted eight goals in 12 matches on loan to Dunfermline Athletic.

"We're getting one or two of the guys back," McGlynn told Falkirk TV. "Coll's now basically ready for selection as well, more or less.

"He could do with getting minutes in a game, which is difficult at this time of the season - we are trying.

"It was good to get Aidan on the pitch, absolutely. He's been out for a considerable time.

"The squad that we've got is a good squad and it's getting bigger by the players coming back from injury and us having to get players in to compensate for the injuries that we've had.

"We've got Barney Stewart coming back - I'm delighted to get him back."

As for the possibility of January signings, McGlynn added: "There's scope, but the squad's going to be massive, so I need to be careful about how we go about January."

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Falkirk have striker Barney Stewart in their squad after a prolific loan spell with Dunfermline while Coll Donaldson is pushing for a comeback.

Gary Oliver (hamstring), Ross MacIver (ankle), Lewis Neilson (ankle) and Tom Lang (foot) are all due to return in January.

Aberdeen defenders Gavin Molloy and Kristers Tobers are still out with knee injuries.

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• Falkirk have won four and lost just one of their past six league meetings with Aberdeen (D1), winning their first clash this season 1-0 in August.

• This will be Aberdeen's first league visit to Falkirk since February 2010, losing 3-1 under Mark McGhee despite taking a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute.

• Falkirk haven't lost their first January match in any of their last four years as a top-flight side (W2 D2), most recently drawing 1-1 with Celtic in 2010. Their last such defeat was in 2006 (1-2 v Dundee United).

• Aberdeen lost their opening league game of 2025 2-1 to Ross County; they haven't lost their league opener in back-to-back calendar years since doing so in 1999 (v St Johnstone) and 2000 (v Rangers).

• Only Alexandros Kyziridis (28) and Reo Hatate (27) have created more chances from open play than Aberdeen's Stuart Armstrong (25) in the Scottish Premiership this season.

Grant Heaney
Fan writer

Around 2,000 Bairns left Dens Park on Saturday feeling deflated after our final fixture of 2025. But let's not forget - we've witnessed a year every Falkirk fan will cherish forever.

The 2024-25 season will live long in the memory of every Bairn, as we secured the Scottish Championship title in dramatic fashion and earned promotion back to the top flight after 15 years. The scenes at the Falkirk Stadium after the full-time whistle against Hamilton Academical in May showed exactly what this club means to the town.

Most of the squad have since tasted top-flight football for the first time and have already shown they can compete with the country's elite. In fact, we've rarely looked out of place - a testament to all the staff and players - and our strong points tally at the halfway stage puts us in a strong position to secure survival.

But while 2025 has given us plenty to celebrate, we mustn't rest on our laurels - 2026 will bring its own challenges, and everyone connected with the club will need the same fight, focus and spirit if we are to make it another year to savour.

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Falkirk have recalled Barney Stewart after the striker enjoyed a successful loan spell with Dunfermline Athletic.

The 21-year-old scored seven goals in 11 games for the Scottish Championship side.

The striker, who has netted twice in 17 matches for Falkirk, will be available for selection for Saturday's game against Aberdeen.

"We would like to put on record our thanks to the coaching staff of Dunfermline for their cooperation in furthering Barney's development," the Premiership club said.

Watch highlights as Dundee edge out Falkirk with a Yan Dhanda penalty for a vital Scottish Premiership win. (Available to UK users only)

We asked for your views on Falkirk's 1-0 defeat against Dundee.

Here's what some of you said:

Nathan: It's not the best game of football I've been to and one that I think we just need to bin. There wasn't really much between the teams and there was a real lack of quality all over the park with a penalty deciding the match. Happy that we'll have Barney Stewart back after his successful loan with Dunfermline across the river, hopefully he can get up and running for us and provide some more firepower.

David: Very little quality on show here from both teams. On paper John McGlynn fielded an attacking line-up to make good use of the wide areas and the excellent surface at Dens Park, however it fair to say we were not at our best. Next up we welcome Aberdeen to the Falkirk stadium for a mid-table clash. The fans will also be encouraged by the return of our prodigal son from his sojourn in deepest Fife.

Ian: Poor, had a lot of the ball, but that wins you nothing, didn't create a great deal either.

Yan Dhanda's first-half penalty secured a pivotal first win in five Scottish Premiership matches for Dundee as Steven Pressley's side moved seven points clear of bottom-team Livingston with victory against a flat Falkirk.

Read the match report.

Have your say on the game here.

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Falkirk manager John McGlynn tells BBC Scotland: "There wasn't an awful lot in it, a penalty kick is what separates the two teams. We huffed and puffed a bit, didn't quite start the game as well as we wanted to.

"Dundee got themselves in a position where they shut up shop, and we didn't quite have the quality today to get something out of the game.

"Dundee are a really well-organised team, but we didn't turn the ball over enough, didn't have the quality and it just didn't quite click for us. It's not the end of the world, but yes, we're disappointed.

"And the penalty kick for handball, it's a lottery. He's gone to block the shot and if he has made his body bigger, by the letter of the law, it's a penalty. But some you get and some you don't."

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Falkirk defender Leon McCann admits 2025 delivered the highest and lowest moments of his life, but he is now approaching the new year with major optimism on and off the pitch.

McCann's son, Brooks, was born profoundly deaf in March but tests have shown he could be able to hear when fitted with implants.

McCann, 25, said: "Everything's going great. We think by probably March time, we're hoping that he'll have had his operation for his implants and then they do a month of silence, they call it, before they turn the implants on.

"We're hoping that obviously opens a full new journey for us, for him and ourselves, that we'll be kind of going back to the start again. So I'm buzzing for that day.

"It's been a whirlwind of a year. Obviously the best thing that happened in my life was my son being born and then finding out that he was deaf was probably the lowest day of my life.

"And then on the pitch obviously you do well and you win a league.

"So it's been a whirlwind of a year, plenty of ups and downs. Now we're on the up again and we're just hoping that once this operation takes place and hopefully he can hear, then we'll be starting our own fresh journey and navigating him through life, being able to hear this time."

McCann and partner Morgan have raised thousands of pounds to help other deaf children through their B Heard charity.

"The charity has been great," he said. "The help of the fans has been unbelievable. It's been bigger than we ever thought it could be. We've managed to help out 15 families or something already. Our goal was just to help one."

And on the pitch, McCann is glad to be proving he can cut it in the Premiership with the Bairns, who could move back into the top six with victory at Dundee on Saturday.

"I always believed that I could play at this level," the former Airdrie left-back said. "I just needed to back it up and prove to people who probably thought I couldn't.

"I feel like it's not been that major step up. Obviously you do get select players that you go, wow, they are top, top players.

"But it's more just a fitness thing as well. For the past couple of years we've been used to keeping the ball off teams and letting them try to get it back.

"Now it's a wee bit different. We're not getting the ball as much and you're having to try and work hard to get the ball back and things like that. So you realise the fitness level is a step up."

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Dundee have doubts over skipper Simon Murray and vice-captain Finlay Robertson because of knee knocks but Ryan Astley and Ethan Hamilton return.

Falkirk hope Brian Graham will recover from a knee knock in time to feature while Coll Donaldson, Aidan Nesbitt and Keelan Adams are fully in contention.

Gary Oliver (hamstring), Ross MacIver (ankle), Lewis Neilson (ankle) and Tom Lang (foot) are all due to return in January.

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• This will be Falkirk's first away game against Dundee in the top flight since December 1992, when they lost 2-1 under Jim Jefferies.

• Having already beaten Livingston 3-2 in September of this season, Dundee could win at home to two different newly-promoted sides in the same top-flight season for the first time since 2000-01 (3-0 v Dunfermline, 5-0 v St Mirren).

• Dundee have only won one of their past nine Scottish Premiership matches (D1 L7), failing to keep a clean sheet in each outing. On home soil, however, they have only lost two of their past six league games (W3 D1).

• Falkirk have kept a clean sheet in four of their past six Scottish Premiership games, including one in a 1-0 victory over Kilmarnock last time out. This is as many clean sheets as they had kept in their previous 28 games in the top-flight (4).

• Dundee's Cameron Congreve has the most goal involvements of any player aged 21 or younger in the Premiership this season (7 – 1 goal, 6 assists), while he is the outright leader for assists (6) in the division.

Falkirk manager John McGlynn confirms that striker Barney Stewart will return in January after scoring seven goals in 11 games on loan at Dunfermline Athletic. (Falkirk Herald), external

Grant Heaney
Fan writer

I think it's fair to say that our 1-0 win away at Kilmarnock on Saturday wasn't exactly a thing of beauty - but you know what? It was enjoyable.

Scrappy at times, nervy at others, but ultimately another vital three points.

Forget any talk of the wheels coming off after back-to-back defeats and four games without a goal - Saturday's success showed once again that the resilience which has carried us this far is very much alive and kicking.

Two recent losses didn't leave us downbeat. We were disciplined, focused and worthy winners in the end. And the best part? That grit and determination revealed a different side to our game - one that bodes well for the second half of the season.

We rolled up our sleeves, dug in and earned a valuable victory at a venue that has haunted us for years - play-off heartbreak, a top-flight relegation, and all the bad memories that comes with it. By the final whistle though, Rugby Park didn't feel so cursed anymore.

More of the same against Dundee at Dens Park this Saturday would be the perfect way to cap off what has been a truly special year for everyone connected with the club.

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John McGlynn is confident Brian Graham will shrug off a knee problem as the Falkirk striker bids to continue his scoring form at Dundee on Saturday.

The 38-year-old is nursing a knock after netting the only goal against Kilmarnock on Saturday.

That took Graham's tally to three goals in his past six games and five strikes overall since joining from Partick Thistle in the summer.

"Brian Graham has picked up a little bit of a knee injury. At this stage, I don't think it's going to cause him any bother for the weekend, but it's very early," said manager McGlynn.

"At his age, he's still scoring goals in the Premiership. He's coming to the tail end of his career, of course, everyone knows that. He wanted to finish at the top and I'm pleased for him.

"He's still got that knack of getting in the right place at the right time.

"He scores a really, really good goal against Dundee United, gets in behind, takes it round the goalkeeper and sticks it away.

"He scored a header against St Mirren, a really good bullet header. He scored a penalty.

"Then on Saturday, he's in between the posts where you want your striker. It's a number nine's goal. It's not the most exciting goal, but it's being in the right place at the right time."

Graham has helped Falkirk deal with the loss of Ross MacIver and Gary Oliver to injury but both are due back in January, while Barney Stewart looks set to be recalled from a loan spell after hitting seven goals in nine games.

"Potentially Barney will probably come back from Dunfermline," McGlynn said.

"Gary's going to come back. Ross MacIver's going to come back. So we're going to have loads and loads of competition up there.

"Brian's done really, really well. But prior to that, Ross MacIver was doing very well."

Updating on other team news for the Dens Park trip, McGlynn said: "Everyone else has come through unscathed. We had Aidan Nesbitt and Coll Donaldson in the stand so our squad is strong.

"Keelan Adams will be fit for this game at the weekend. He's missed the last two or three games so it'll be good to get him back."

Sportscene pundit Neil McCann praises John McGlynn and his Falkirk side after victory in a "huge game" against Kilmarnock.

Watch highlights as Kilmarnock lose 1-0 against Falkirk in the Scottish Premiership.

We asked for your views on Falkirk's 1-0 win against Kilmarnock.

Here's what some of you said:

Nathan: Was worried that it may have been a case of deja vu at half time but we managed to dig deep get stuck in and Brian Graham gets a poachers goal. Can't fault the effort from the players who all worked hard to get a huge three points.

David: Great three points on the road, in a six-pointer against Kilmarnock. We were set up in workman-mode looking to counter on the break. Credit must go to the squad for another clean sheet.

To a man they all did what was asked of them leaving nothing on the pitch. John McGlynn got his set-up and substitutes spot on. The work ethic and the players playing for the manager is clearly evident in every match. Onwards to Dundee away next Saturday and another six-pointer!

Dan: McGlynn is a workaholic, master tactician and prepares the Bairns meticulously for every game.

Kevin: Every Falkirk player should take a bow for their performance, the effort they put in from front to back was sensational.

Was a hard choice to pick my man of the match but I give it to Graham, proved he can still cut it with the best of the bunch magnificent holding the ball up and his link up play was top drawer, well done Bairns.

Ian: Not pretty to watch, but we dug in and got the three points, showed how tight knit and together the squad is.