Falkirk boss John McGlynn urges side to be more streetwise after another late leveller

John McGlynn urged his new-look Falkirk side need to be more streetwise after they conceded another late leveller in the Scottish Premiership.

The Bairns found themselves 1-0 up against 10-man St Johnstone with half an hour remaining at McDiarmid Park - but they couldn’t hold on to secure back-to-back league victories before the international break.

In-form winger Ethan Ross opened the scoring seven minutes after Cheick Diabate was sent off for a second bookable offence. The centre-back needlessly clipped Ross, who enjoyed another fine Falkirk showing. The 25-year-old produced a fine finish when he was found by Derby County loanee Owen Eames.

And his first goal of campaign should have been enough for McGlynn’s team - but they conceded another stoppage-time equaliser after suffering heartbreak at Dundee United earlier this month.

Substitute Aodhan Doherty was guilty of making a rash challenge on the edge of the area, and St Johnstone punished Falkirk, with left-back Enes Alić curling home a cracking free kick.

We have only ourselves to blame, admits Falkirk boss

“There’s nobody to blame but ourselves. They tried to throw bodies forward and managed to get a point from it when we should be coming away with all three,” McGlynn admitted.

“St Johnstone had the better of the chances in the first half. There was a little bit of chess tactically and we never really got to the level we reached on Tuesday night. We weren’t sharp enough and our movement wasn’t very good. It was quite slow.

“Second half, I thought we started better. It was more like us, and we got a good goal. From there we should have taken it on, especially after St Johnstone went down to 10 men. We should have put the game to bed.

“Fair play to St Johnstone. They kept themselves in the game. We were guilty of giving away too many free-kicks. That was just encouragement for them to get the ball into our box.

“And when breaking out, we didn’t do so well. That was how the goal came about because we actually had the ball. We gave away a free-kick, and it was executed really well. It was the last kick of the ball, and we’ve done ourselves out of two points.”

The boss added: “We’ve dropped two points here with the last kick of the ball and at Tannadice against Dundee United. We could be sitting in a very comfortable position in the league. But we have to lick our wounds now.”

Falkirk now sit second bottom on six points from their opening six Premiership matches heading into the extended three-week long international break. But McGlynn isn’t too worried about where his side currently sit in the table - pointing to last season’s success after a similar start.

John McGlynn: Falkirk will climb table just like last term

He said: “I wasn’t happy with the St Mirren game, the very first game. After that, we’ve had some really hard games. We’ve had to go to Fir Park, we got a draw against Motherwell. We then had Celtic, lost 2-1. We play Rangers and do well but lose 2-1.

“We won the Hearts game. Against St Johnstone, we didn’t reach the level we wanted to reach. But St Johnstone have been going well – they beat Killie, Hibs and got a point at Dens Park.

“I feel we have been fairly consistent. We are in the exact same position as we were at this time last year. That ended up well. So, there’s a long way to go and a lot to look forward to.”

On goalscorer Ross, McGlynn added: “Ethan has been playing consistently. He has been doing really well in and out position. He scored a good goal. That will only give him more confidence and encouragement to do that more often. That’s what we want from him - more goals and assists. And he has been contributing.”

The Bairns have already organised two bounce games during the international break, with the first of those matches being played on Monday.