ALL IN THE MIND FOR BAIRNS

Peter Houston is keeping faith with his players

The Bairns have struggled in their opening three league matches, picking up just one point from nine, and the players have re-started their mindfulness sessions with guru Connie McLaughlin.

The Bairns boss hopes that will help the team put their struggles behind them, because he can’t fault their attitude – just their form.

He said: “One of the things about the group of players we’ve got – we don’t hide away. We recognise the faults within the team just now and certainly the video analysis on Monday leaves them with no excuses. They’re not a bunch of boys for making excuses.

“We won’t panic into anything, because after three games we haven’t won. The only way to get out of this rut if you want to call it that, is through working hard on the training field and both myself the coaching staff and players are doing that.

“I’m convinced that the players here can become a tough nut to crack again. It’s been a really tough start for us, Hibs then two of the toughest trips. Now the hard work starts for picking up a run of games and wins. Turning a good 30 minutes into a good 90 minutes. Turning the 45 minutes in the second half at Morton into 90 minutes.

“I still believe entirely in the group of players we’ve got here. We’ve got players here who can easily step up to the plate but what they’ve got to do is show me they can. No team has cut us open with open football.”

Houston is hopeful the mental sessions with Inner Buzz which benefitted the Bairns last season will restore inner peace and a winning mentality.

“One of the things is we won’t get our heads down, we’ll work hard on the training ground to get it right and with the players we’ve got here I’m utterly convinced we will.

“They’ve started the sessions with Connie and hopefully working on their mental attitude to put it behind them.

“Now the talking and agreement that we are making mistakes has to stop and we have to get on with our business of creating chances.

“Last year we prided ourselves in going away and being difficult to beat – we have to go back to that.

“I fully appreciate the fans will demand a win on Saturday. So will I.”