Broken nose, broken tooth, injury niggles - but Falkirk captain Gregor Buchanan plays on through the pain

Gregor Buchanan's aerial battles have come at a cost with a broken tooth adding to his list of ailments. Picture: Michael Gillen

But the Falkirk captain insists he will play through the pain barrier to the end of the season in the pursuit of more success.

The Bairns are on an unbeaten streak under management duo Lee Miller and David McCracken, extended by Tuesday night’s 2-0 win over Arbroath and Saturday’s 6-0 win against Forfar.

But the weekend win also ended another club streak – of Buchanan’s consecutive minutes played.

“It was a record I was proud of,” the 29-year-old told The Falkirk Herald, who had featured in every minute until Saturday’s game. “I’ve been carrying a niggle for a while now and playing through it and with the amount of games coming up the management decided it would be best to take care of my body a bit.

“It wasn’t easy watching from the bench because you’re still jumping and shouting for everything but it was brilliant to get a 6-0 win and more points on the board.”

Buchanan has even postponed an operation on his broken nose until the summer to see through the remainder of the campaign.

“I’d be out for six weeks once I had it. It was actually scheduled for Saturday there but we’ve decided to postpone it and the club will get it done at the end of the season.

“It’s an important period for the team and I want to be available for as much of it as I can,” he added.

“Stranraer is a big game now and then we have Hearts in the cup. I know what a cup run means to the club and to the town. The club has a good record in the competition and it’s a tie to look forward to – but we also have a good record to maintain against Stranraer.”