Bairns boss pleased at the return of Craig Sibbald

The duo joined the first-team for the first time in months on Tuesday as they continue on the road to recovery.

And Hartley was pleased to welcome the duo back and off an injury list which hasn’t let up much since he arrived at the club.

He said: “We’ve had injuries and illness. Sibbald and Tom trained for the first time [on Tuesday]. They’ve done a lot of running.”

Asked on Sibbald he added: “He has a finesse about him, he can create and has a bit of quality.

“We saw that in training. He was nice and bright and we’ll see how he is over the days and where he is with sharpness. He’s done a lot of running and rehab stuff so to have him back would be a big boost to everybody.

He’ll be frustrated about not playing but hoipefully now he can effect it. He’s not had a lot of match time but it’s great to have him in the squad.”

However there are still plenty of injury victims among the Bairns.

Hartley added: “(Conrad)Balatoni is back, (Paul) Watson is touch and go, same as (Joe) McKee and young Tony (Gallacher). We’ve got some back but not everyone.

“We’ve not had a full group available to pick from us but that’s the challenge of a manager to make the best squad available to us.”