Scott Bain earns another Scotland call-up after starring for Falkirk against Celtic

Falkirk stopper Scott Bain will again do battle for the Scotland No 1 jersey after earning a call up to Sebastien Pocognoli’s latest national team squad.

He is one of four goalkeepers selected ahead of the country’s final two Nations League outings at home to North Macedonia and away to Switzerland.

Last time around, the 34-year-old returned to the Scotland set-up after missing out on the World Cup but was on the bench for all four of Pocognoli’s first fixtures as national team boss. Angus Gunn, who is now playing for San Jose Earthquakes, started all four games.

Falkirk ace Scott Bain earns Scotland call up

Speaking after Falkirk’s 2-0 victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership last Sunday, in-form Bain said that he was hoping to put his “best foot forward” and impress the Belgium head coach.

"I hope that I'm in the next squad,” he said after making 10 saves and putting in a player-of-the-match performance. “I really enjoyed working with the manager and seeing his ideas and how he works. As long as I go away and put my best foot forward, I'm happy to give my best account of myself out there."

“It's difficult because with international football you can only do what you can do for your club and hopefully the manager sees that and makes a decision. I don't ever go there expecting to play. I go there to represent myself the best I can and I play these games for Falkirk to represent myself the best I can.

"Whether that turns out with the manager giving me some game time when we're away then I'll do my best if I get the opportunity. But mostly, international football for me is about what I do here. Can I put in good performances to be in the conversation? That's really what it's about."

First-half goals from winger Ethan Ross and full-back Scott Tanser secured the three points against the Hoops - with that win making it four on the spin for the now fourth-placed Bairns in the top flight.

"It was a busy day,” Bain added. “It was an amazing result, four wins in a row and three clean sheets in a row. It was amazing for the team, amazing for the club and the manager and, for myself, just delighted with the performance. We can take so much belief from that game. I really enjoyed the game. I had an early save and then one just before half-time from (Camilo) Duran. When we came out in the second half I thought it was going to be backs against the wall.

"I thought we defended excellently. We put our bodies in front of things, we cleared things and I just felt it was one of those games where they weren't going to score. Thankfully they never. When it got to about the 77th minute I thought we were going to be fine.

“They put us under a lot of pressure and put balls in the box, but I thought our togetherness, our team spirit and also our quality when we won the ball back at times was excellent. We outfought them at times and we also outplayed them at times. It was really good."