John McGlynn reckons Falkirk looked ‘Premiership-ready’ after 2-2 draw with Dundee United in top-flight opener.

Falkirk manager John McGlynn hailed his players’ strong mentality as they put in a ‘Premiership-ready’ performance against Dundee United.

The Bairns battled back twice to secure a 2-2 draw in their Scottish Premiership flag day opener in front of a sold-out home crowd.

And the boss was full of praise for his tight-knit squad after Dylan Tait and Ethan Ross grabbed second-half goals in an end-to-end clash that saw the Terrors go ahead twice through Max Watters and Ivan Dolcek. He did however concede that “margins are finer” in the top flight.

Falkirk looked Premiership-ready

"I don't think we've got our eyes closed,” McGlynn said. “We know that the margins are finer in this league. We'll all look to learn from that and we will need to learn from that. But there's so many positives to take. A lot of these players have played in League One, they've stepped up to the Championship dealt with that, and today, I think they looked like Premiership players against Premiership players. We were 15 years out of it, the same group of players almost, stepping up to the challenge, 5700 season tickets. Dundee United filled their allocation as well. So it was a great atmosphere. People want to come and be entertained. That was definitely entertainment. It was a great advert for Premiership football - both teams went toe-to-toe to win the game.”

On the match, McGlynn was delighted with his team’s fighting spirit after losing two poor goals to Jim Goodwin’s side - who finished fourth last season after themselves winning the second-tier title the campaign previous.

McGlynn hails Bairns’ mentality after draw

He said: “We got into good areas of the pitch but maybe didn’t quite use the ball as well as could have. We tried too many short, sharp combinations on the edge of their box rather than just getting a shot away. We tried to walk the ball into the back of the net when we were on top. United came into the game and we should have dealt the opener a little better. The guys got back into it but we can’t rely on just Calvin (Miller) or Ethan (Ross) producing a bit of magic - we need more than that. We started the second half exceptionally well. Dylan Tait scores a great goal from our point of view, it was a fantastic finish. The guys showed a great mentality. We took the game to them. It was harsh on us to go behind again but we then got a break with the deflected shot. Sometimes you shoot and you get that little bit of luck - if you don’t shoot then you don’t score. I said that to the guys at half time.”

Opposition boss Goodwin was happy with a point amid United’s European journey continuing with a trip to Vienna on the cards this week. He also highlighted his team’s lack of options due to injury and suspension. “On the back of us playing in Europe on Thursday, with the short turnaround and the lack of recovery time, I think we’ve got to be satisfied with a point. We’re missing some real key players. Our captain and vice-captain, Ross Graham and Will Ferry. Ferry was a suspension. Ryan Strain, Amar Fatah and Kristijan Trapanovski were all missing and they can be great options for us off the bench or starting the game.”