Falkirk boss Houston happy to pitch Sibbald into derby

Sibbald’s signing for the Bairns ended a summer of speculation over his future.

And boss Peter Houston says he has no fears about pitching the lifelong Falkirk fan into Saturday’s derby at Dunfermline.

With only 34-minute appearance as a trialist for Luton in the tank, Sibbald was due to get in some match practice in a friendly against Edinburgh University on Wednesday.

Assuming he comes through unscathed he’ll be in the squad for Saturday - and Houston has no concerns over either his readiness or any potential reaction from a disgruntled minority of fans.

Houston said: “Wait until you hear them on Saturday if he comes on the pitch. The Falkirk fans will be delighted.

“Sure there will be one or two disappointed that he didn’t want to sign for the club but this boy’s got a career ahead of him, a life ahead of him and bigger players than Craig Sibbald have wanted to move on.

“They’ve done it so why can Craig Sibbald not have a look - in my opinion he’s more than entitled to do that. We’re more than happy to wait that extra year at least with him here because he’s been quality for this football club and the Falkirk fans, the large majority, absolutely love him.”

Falkirk head for Fife desperate to kick start their campaign with their first league victory.

Houston said: “We’ll go there with the proper mindset try and get out season up and running.

“I love derby matches, they are fiercely fought but I don’t think there’s any malice between the fans and that’s the way it should be.

“Dunfermline will come and attack us and I can guarantee that we’ll go and attack them as well so it could be an end to end game and a totally different game from the Dumbarton game on Saturday.”