Falkirk boss has Team Hartley in place

And he believes that Nicholl in particular can bring a combination of experience and enthusiasm to push Bairns up the Championship table.

Nicholl will remain in place as Northern Ireland assistant boss for next month’s World Cup play-off with Switzerland and Hartley feels his achievements at international level with Michael O’Neill show what he can bring to Falkirk.

He said: “They have got the maximum out of their players. What they’ve done has been absolutely outstanding.”

“He [Nicholl] took me to Millwall as a kid and then took me back to Raith Rovers, so he’s somebody that I know pretty well, somebody that I really respect, that I enjoy working with.

“He’s somebody that will bring a personality to the group. That enthusiasm on the training pitch and the hunger and desire he’s never lost. He loves football and I can lean on Jimmy and on Alex [Smith] because I’m still learning.”

Nicholl, whose first task is to help Hartley prepare for Saturday’s visit of league leaders St Mirren, admitted that - despite having more family time - he had missed the day-to-day involvement with the game since leaving his last job at Cowdenbeath.

He said: “Every time I went away with Northern Ireland I kept thinking about the clubs the lads were going back to.”