Doyle aims to find Bairns balance and put smiles back on faces of everyone at Falkirk

Michael Doyle is ready to earn the right for the Bairns to party and smile again. Picture: Michael Gillen.

But Michael Doyle – already building a reputation at the Bairns for his zany antics – is determined to earn the right to have a laugh again – by knuckling down and getting things right on the pitch.

Despite being just two points off the top of the table, the mood after Saturday’s defeat to Airdrie has been low and the Bairns are seeking a return to winning ways at Dumbarton on Saturday – which will enable Doyle to get back to having fun and planning costumes for the team’s Christmas party.

He said: “You have to find a balance between enjoying a laugh and being serious but you have to earn it by working hard in games and at training.

Michael Doyle practises headers with two Bairns fans pre-match. Picture: Michael Gillen.

“Being a fun-loving guy and having a laugh is fine but you have to knuckle down and do the business in training. If I didn’t do that then I’d be getting pulled into the manager’s office more times than anyone else.

It’s hard to have a fun character at times like these but I’ve been in football long enough to know that there’s always another game coming and you can’t dwell too much.

“But I hurt when we get beat, I really do. I am hurt losing in training. But if you can keep the morale up in the changing room, it will win you more games than it will affect you.

“Having fun when you can have fun is important but so is knuckling down in training. Even in training you need a bit of a laugh and the manager and Daz [Darren Taylor] are good for that and they’ve been trying to lift us too.

Doyle says his old boss Jim Duffy will have Dumbarton well remidned of the last result. Picture: Michael Gillen.

“The results haven’t been amazing but going into the game we were top of the league. Saturday was a blip and these things happen in football but it’s how you bounce back from these knocks and where you have to show your steel

“Monday’s meeting nipped things in the bud and we won’t have it easy against my old manager Jim Duffy on Saturday.

“It’s going to be a long season and maybe if I can get some costumes organised for the Christmas night out it will give us something to look forward to - that’s my ploy to get that going, but first we’re concentrating on the game at Dumbarton on Saturday.”