Broken hand for Falkirk defender Watson

Paul watson has broken his hand. Picture Michael Gillen

James Craigen limped off against Queen of the South to join Joe McKee in the treatment room and then boss Peter Houston revealed the centre half was also out with a fracture.

However the Bairns boss was pleased with the way his side coped with the enforced changes before and during the game, which saw Luca Gasparotto come in for Watson, Aird replace Craigen in the first half and Mark Kerr and Lewis Kidd step in for the suspended duo of Myles Hippolyte and Aaron Muirhead.

Houston said: “We had a lot of changes through suspension and injury but it shows the strength in depth we have.

“Myles and Aaron were suspended, Paul Watson has a broken hand.

“ James Craigen has a puffy ankle. It could be ligament damage I imagine, but we’ll give it 48 hours.

“James has been consistent and playing well recently but its great for me to be able to throw a good player like Fraser Aird back in.

“The changes that were forced upon us, we handled well, and shows the strength in depth we have.”

Joe McKee has bruising on the padding of his foot, picked up on his Bairns debut against Dunfermline.