'It is a miracle job for us now' - Falkirk captain Stephen McGinn says sorry after Airdrie collapse

The Bairns’ 6-2 loss at the Excelsior Stadium on Tuesday night leaves the side all but out of the tie after a shocking first half five-goal collapse.

“I have to apologise to the Falkirk fans," McGinn said. “The ones who travelled especially and just everyone invovled with Falkirk Football Club in general.

"It was the worst case scenario tonight and I can’t put out any excuses for that performance.

"We’re sorry and it can never happen again. I have played football for a long time and it is up there with some of the sorest nights I have had.

“When Airdrie have momentum up they can score goals but we have to do better at each goal. They are preventable. We just couldn’t stop the bleeding.

"We got back into it and you are hoping at that point, with them down to ten men, that you can maybe get it 5-3 or 5-4 at least, but they made it difficult for us and slowed the game down.

"That last goal is a killer and it makes it so difficult, I didn’t see us conceding again at that point. It was a real kick in the teeth.

"But the truth is our undoing this season has been the goals we’ve conceded. We’ve conceded too many and some have been really poor. We need to rectify that if we want to get to where we want to be.”

Going into Saturday’s return leg, the midfielder says the team need to restore some pride against the Diamonds.

McGinn said: “We’ll have a go. Airdrie can win a half of football five nil or lose a half of football five nil. They play to entertain and attack. We need to get the first goal and take it from there.

“What is the point in chucking it? To finish at 6-2 makes it a real miracle job on Saturday but all we can do is give it a go. All we can do is show some pride and really go for it.”