Falkirk ace Lewis Neilson on 'surreal' Hearts victory, John McGlynn and squad challenge

Lewis Neilson believes that his Falkirk team-mates should have no fear in targeting a top-three finish in the Scottish Premiership after racking up five wins on the spin.

The Bairns thumped defender Neilson’s former club Hearts 5-2 last Sunday at Tynecastle to leapfrog Wouter Vrancken’s side into third spot after 13 matches played. And Falkirk will be hoping to make it six in a row after the international break with a home fixture against St Johnstone up next.

Against his former employers, John McGlynn’s team racked up a five-goal lead after 47 minutes with Finley Barbrook, Owen Eames, Jacob Murrell (2) and Liam Henderson all on the scoresheet. The hosts did pull two goals back - but the three points was never in doubt with the result ending Hearts’ 18-month long unbeaten home record.

Former Hearts ace revels in beating former club

"It was so good,” Neilson said after the match. “Obviously really enjoyable. Surreal at one point, being 5-0 up at Tynecastle, it's something you probably don't expect even when you factor in how confidence we are feeling at the moment.

"We knew if we came here, given they travelled away on Thursday night to play Thun - and with the amount of injuries that they have currently - that we'd come and get a result if we worked as hard as we have been doing in recent weeks.

"To be 5-0 up at one point in that game was something special. It definitely it wasn't a fluke or a bit of luck. We won all our duels in the first half and we were so clinical going forward.

"You could go through the whole team, everyone's playing at the top of their game. We have some brilliant players at the top end of the pitch who are game changers, and I think that showed today.”

When asked if Falkirk should harbour ambitions of trying to stay in third, the 23-year-old added: "That 100 per cent has to be our ambition, to stay there. We know we've got a really good group of boys in there with so much quality.

"And I think more than anything else, we have a group of boys that are willing to work hard in every single game, and I think that shows. We're in third now and there's no reason why we can't look to stay there.”

It’s been a brilliant start to the campaign for Neilson, who made a permanent move to the Bairns in the summer after leaving Hearts. Last term, he had a mixed loan spell with Falkirk but has kicked on this season - building up a strong partnership with Henderson. The Bairns have the third-best goals conceded record in the division.

And according to Neilson, that is a mightily impressive feat considering the wholesale changes to McGlynn’s squad with 17 summer signings being made by the ever-impressive boss.

"It's been a massive turnover,” he said. “For a club like Falkirk, you're always going to have that. We're mainly relying on loan boys with the lack of funds available compared to other clubs.

"Five or six weeks ago, a lot of people were tipping us to go down. But the way the boys have gelled together, we knew the quality was always there.

"It was just a matter of time, and it looks like it's coming together now. Five wins in the last five, with three clean sheets in there as well is superb. We want to keep that going now.”

Praising McGlynn - who won the Premiership manager of the month prize for October - he added: "The manager is a massive part of why I chose to sign for Falkirk. He was brilliant with me last year, and he's brilliant with everyone that comes in. One million per cent he is a big reason why.

"He's brought together a really good group of boys this year, and he's been brilliant with me. I can only thank him for giving me this opportunity. I'm loving every second of it.

"I wanted somewhere that I could call home and I loved my time at Falkirk last year. I knew it was the right place for me. I'm playing every week at the minute in a really good team with some great players around me. I'm loving it.”