Falkirk boss John McGlynn reveals what has him feeling positive ahead of Dundee United cup tie

That match-up saw Falkirk edged 1-0 on the night, with Kai Fotheringham’s goal on the half hour mark – which came from a calamitous defensive error – enough to seal the three points for Jim Goodwin’s team. This time around, the sides meet in the quarter-finals of the SPFL Trust Trophy, with the match live on BBC Alba (kick-off 7.40pm).

"There is no real pressure on us,” manager McGlynn said. “Our guys will be right up for it. Hopefully that allows us to go out and play good football. We are normally the hot favourites going into most matches but this time around we are the underdogs who aren’t expected to go through. We’ve shown up well in cup competitions.

“They are the only team to have beaten us so far this season. It was a narrow victory. We certainly won’t be reinventing the wheel, we know how we want to play and we know that we can cause them problems. That match was one that could have went one way or the other. We’re flying and they are flying now. Both teams have real threats.”

The boss also believes that this time around he has more options to chose from in the middle of the park, with the line-up against United back in July seeing an unconventional trio of Gary Oliver, Stephen McGinn and Ola Lawal with Brad Spencer suspended, Aidan Nesbitt injured and Liam Henderson not fully fit.

McGlynn explained: “These are the type of things we look at, of course we do. You look back and take everything into account. Absolutely no disrespect to Gary (Oliver), Ola (Lawal) and Stephen (McGinn) at all but our midfield is obviously doing so well at the moment.

"Because of that, we feel that can really give them a game. I think it is fair to say that we got more legs in midfield now.

“That allows the guys in the wide areas to really go about what they do and big Ross (MacIver) has really put himself about and scored goals on a regular basis.

“Dundee United are in a different place now too. Kai Fotheringham, who I know well, is away with the Scotland under-21s, but then they can call upon Mathew Cudjoe who is also a really talented player. They didn’t have Declan Gallagher at the time and Louis Moult also wasn’t on the pitch.

The formations won’t change, we are both pretty similar, sometimes a 4-3-3, sometimes a 4-2-3-1, they might go for a 4-4-2 with Tony (Watt) supporting Moult.”

Meanwhile, McGlynn confirmed that the Bairns will have a threadbare bench, owing to a mix of injuries and ineligible players.

He revealed: “We’ll be without Layton Bisland because he cannot play against his parent club. Ethan Ross was cup-tied with Raith Rovers.

“Gary Oliver is out of the equation again after feeling his hamstring yesterday. We are quite tight on numbers – we’ll put some really young ones on the bench just to try and give them some experience.”