Falkirk midfielder Finn Yeats on Scottish Premiership final five, Dunfermline defeat and goal aim

Finn Yeats felt that his time at Falkirk was up not so long ago.

The versatile midfielder, 22, found himself completely out of the picture at the turn of the year, having battled through a foot injury earlier this season to get fit again. He entered the festive period believing that he was likely to leave the Bairns in January - or at the very least go out on loan.

But after being handed a surprise start against Motherwell in the No 10 role, Yeats earned a spot in the starting eleven. He’s since made 14 top-flight appearances, scoring a couple of goals along the way and contributing to Falkirk securing their top-six berth with a game to spare.

The midfielder was also handed a contract extension to keep him at the club until the summer of 2028 - with his previous deal ending after the conclusion of the current campaign.

Finn Yeats fought back to stay with Falkirk

"That was a difficult time for me,” Yeats admitted ahead of this Saturday’s trip to Celtic. “I was potentially going on loan or potentially leaving in January but then all of a sudden I was getting game time, through luck probably. But I took my chance and getting a new deal gives you a wee pat on the back and gives you the boost that you need, especially at that time of year. I've grabbed it with both hands to be honest. I'm a player that you can trust. I'll always give you 150 per cent and the gaffer said that to me actually. That does give me confidence that I'll be alright. He knows what he's getting from me and that's what I can give him.

"It's been up and down to be honest for me. The start of the season was slow. I broke my foot. I wasn't in the squads at all. Recently, I've played something like 10 weeks in a row. I think I've played a total of 20 games, so from a personal point of view, that's really good. Playing in the Premiership every week is a bonus. Even in the Championship, I had two starts last year. One was against Celtic in the cup and one was against Raith Rovers in the league. After that, I never made a start. I missed squads in the Championship, so in the summer I was thinking: 'right, I'm coming up to the Premiership, I'm probably going to be gone, to be honest'. So I've had to fight a lot of mental battles, but I've come out the other side doing alright, so I've just got to keep doing it.”

Yeats has found a new role in the team, playing alongside Brad Spencer and Dylan Tait in the middle of the park. The midfielder isn’t a natural attacking midfielder, but he has managed to compliment the rest of the team well - and he’s also popped up with some crucial goals.

He continued: "When I first moved into the No 10 role against Motherwell, it was something I hadn't really did before. I mean I was playing right back the season before! So it was a bit different. I'm not a natural number 10, I'm probably a more doggish type of player, I like to make it difficult for opposition players. But I think it showed in games where teams haven't had much control against us, maybe because the way we've set up, we're a very good pressing team, we're very organised, and that helps us a lot more than on the ball.

"I seem to like scoring against the big teams for some reason... that was my aim actually, to score more goals. To get one against Rangers as well, it was good. I aimed for five goals this season, that would be good for me, I'm two off - and you never know what can happen on Saturday, I'll just try my best, well if I'm playing I don't know yet, to get another one.”

The Bairns start their top-six fixture card with a trip to the champions, but they have two home games after that against the ‘Well and fifth-placed Hibs. And with that, Falkirk still have some hope in the race for European football. If Celtic win the Scottish Cup, fifth would be enough to earn a trip to the continent this summer.

Yeats says that his team-mates are downing tools, and that they still have so much to play for despite last weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final exit at the hands of rivals Dunfermline.

“We're five points off Hibs so you never know what can happen,” the midfielder said. “If we get a good result this weekend then hopefully that would put us in a good position. We've got important games coming up and we can have a say in the title race and that's what we want to do. We went it over on Monday (semi-final exit), got out of the system and then just went again as usual, back to training as normal, prepare for Celtic. That's what we've done. It's a derby game that we lost and it's not a good feeling. The boys are hurting. But like I said, we have moved on and we know that we can have a say in this title race and we want to be involved in it. We don't want to let our season peter out. We want to be right in it.”

The former Aberdeen youth prospect also detailed his disappointment at missing out on the recent Scotland Under-21 squad. Yeats had hoped that his regular game time in the top flight, coupled with his strong showing for top-six Falkirk, would earn him a call-up to Scot Gemmill’s group - which did include Barney Stewart and Connor Allan, who at the time wasn’t playing first-team football.

He said: "I'm too old now for when it comes around again... I was 22 on Sunday there. I was a wee bit disappointed with that to be honest, I don't know what you have to do to get into the Under-21s if you're playing at the highest level in your country 10 weeks in a row but you still can't get in... but it's what it is I suppose. I just moved on, a wee bit disappointed but it's just part and parcel of the game.”