Falkirk boss John McGlynn on Aberdeen trip, Liam Henderson and having a 'taller team'

John McGlynn reckons that the Falkirk side that beat Kilmarnock 3-0 last Saturday may be the tallest team he has put out as Bairns boss - and that bringing greater physicality to the table is a key component of any prolonged success in the Scottish Premiership.

Latvian international Deniss Melniks replaced Brentford loanee Ben Krauhaus in midfield alongside the ever-present Brad Spencer, with Finley Barbrook being pushed into the No 10 role.

And the spine of the team had some real height about it - which delighted McGlynn. Speaking ahead of the trip to Aberdeen on Wednesday night - which will see Krauhaus return to the squad - he explained why he’s been headhunting for height since the Championship title-winning campaign.

We had to match Premiership’s height, says Falkirk boss

He said: “I knew when we were coming out of the Championship that we needed to get a taller team and a more physical team because the Premiership, if you look at the Rangers team, they’re huge, they’re big boys.

“There’s a number of teams that are like that. And it is a big part of it unfortunately in Scotland, so you have to match it. But we are trying to find the player who is physically strong, got the attributes, but can play – and that normally costs big money and that’s what we don’t have.

“So we’re having to try to address it by someone like Finley Barbrook, who’s a loan player, who can come in within our budget and give us these attributes.

“We’re looking further afield with Dennis, with regards to where can we get someone that big who can play. We’re not going to get them in Serie A or the top league in France or Germany, so we’re going to have to look outside the box, as we’ve done, and as we’ve done with Jacob (Murrell), and find these nuggets.

“Thankfully Alan Fraser is our head of recruitment and he just spends hours upon hours upon hours finding a lot of these guys. The recruitment is looking like it’s good again.

“Jacob could be anything. Without getting too carried away because you can be two steps forward and one step back, we are in a good place and we’re looking to try to build on it.”

In the heart of the Bairns’ backline, fans’ favourite Liam Henderson put in another solid shift, following on from a strong showing against Hibs at Easter Road the previous weekend.

And McGlynn was delighted to see the centre-back back to his best. So far this campaign, it is fair to say that Lewis Neilson has been Falkirk’s standout defender - and that Hendo hasn’t quite hit heights that he did during the majority of last season.

The boss said after Hibs that Hendo was “getting back to as good as he was”, and the defender followed that game up with a clean sheet last time out.

McGlynn explained: “Hendo’s one who’s come from not even playing regularly at Arbroath. We were away back in League One and weren’t even sure then if he was a centre-back or a centre-mid, he actually did very well for us in the central midfield position, he got himself forward, he got himself in at the back post, he got himself the odd goal.

“Injuries in the Championship season put him in a position he basically had to go in and cut it (at centre-back) and he did and he excelled. And then to see how well he did last year would have given him so much confidence.

“But I think somewhere along the line, confidence can become a bit of complacency and there may have been a little bit of complacency crept into his game, which I think now he’s got his head kind of switched on again, knuckling down and doing what he had been doing.

“Killie didn’t have a shot on target at the weekend, that doesn’t happen to us very often so we’re obviously defending quite well.”

“We’ve kind of got this relationship with a number of them and Liam’s one of them that I’ve known him for a long time now so I can get away with just kind of like saying things to him amongst everyone and he kind of gets the message. I can be funny with him but, at the same time, many a true word said in jest.”

On facing injury-hit Aberdeen, who lost 3-2 away to Dundee United last Saturday, McGlynn added: “Well, they won their last home game, they beat St Mirren. I think by all accounts they played particularly well at the weekend against Dundee United.

“The stats would suggest that they should have certainly taken something if not all three points because they had a lot of opportunities and a lot of the ball in the box. Aberdeen are argumentatively third or fourth biggest club in Scotland, so from their point of view it’s still early days but I’m sure they would rather be up there fighting.

“There’s probably still a bit of in transition as well, I think they’re chopping and changing a little bit with regards to formations and team selection. Some of that was through illness and injury, which Stephen’s (Robinson) mentioned at the weekend, but they had a good performance at the weekend. They’re a dangerous opposition for us but we go there in good spirits.”