Ipswich Town loanee on surprise Falkirk No 10 role and Kilmarnock win in tough weather conditions

There’s a first time for everything. And Finley Barbrook made sure to make the most of his rare outing as an attacking midfielder for Falkirk last Saturday.

The Ipswich Town loanee, 21, has been a star performer for the Bairns so far in the Scottish Premiership since making the making the move north for the campaign. But all of top displays so far have came from a deeper position, playing alongside Brad Spencer in front of the Falkirk backline.

Against Kilmarnock on Saturday, Barbrook was given the chance to play further forward with fellow loanee Ben Krauhaus being unavailable. That switch paid off big time - with Barbrook enjoying an all-action performance in the No 10 role while Deniss Melniks showed why he might actually be an even better option for being the sitter alongside the ever-present Spencer.

Ipswich Town loanee is loving Falkirk spell

After the 3-0 win against Neil McCann’s side, the midfielder said: “It is something that I haven't really did before. But I had an idea earlier on in the week that I was going to be playing there and I really enjoyed it today.

"I think as long as I'm playing on the pitch, I don't really mind where I play, I just try to be as effective as I possibly could and work as hard as I possibly could. It was simple in that I just wanted to ruffle up the Kilmarnock backline.

"Because in these conditions, centre-halves, full-backs, they don't really want to play in them, and if you can almost smell a bit of unease or uncertainty in what they're doing. I think you can thrive on that. I just try to be as effective as I can, in possibly a different way today than what I have done before.”

Another Jacob Murrell header and two own goals secured a big three points for the Bairns - who dealt with the windy and wet weather conditions way better than the East Ayrshire visitors.

The conditions definitely played a part in the game,” Barbrook added. “I actually didn't mind it. I hadn't played in conditions like that before, but when you are playing - you're so focused on trying to get the win and trying to do the best you can that the conditions don't come into your conscience.

"But when I went off, it was pretty rough looking on from the bench. I think both halves came with different challenges conditions-wise.

"First half, the ball was running through for the strikers and for the attackers. And in the second half, it was holding up. I thought we dealt the conditions really well in both halves. We played to the strengths of what was needed for the conditions in each half.

"The main instructions at the start of the game was just to get the ball on the floor and play. He wanted us to get the wind out of it as much as we could, and I thought we done that really well in the first half.

"There was a few passages of play where we broke through them. And in the second half, I think it was just about being professional.”

Barbrook was one of several players namechecked by Falkirk boss John McGlynn afterwards for putting on “strong individual performances” and the Englishman expressed his delight at how his loan spell has gone so far.

“Yeah, I'm loving it,” he said. “In every kind of team it takes a little bit of time to settle, but I think I'm fully settled now. I'm loving having the manager's trust, and I love that the manager can feel like he can trust me in different positions.

“I'm just delighted. I'm delighted with the two wins. I think the feeling around the club's really good at the minute, and I think we've got so much confidence that we can push on and get another big win Wednesday night for sure.

“There's a different feel around the club. We're training really well, we're playing really well, we're feeling really good, and I think the next few games are really important.

"I think there's no reason why we can't get three points in both of them to be honest.”