John McGlynn on a new-look League 1, Saturday's opponents Annan Athletic and his message to the Falkirk support

In what will be the club’s fifth straight season in the third tier, the boss has stressed the importance of promotion this time around after ‘falling at the final hurdle’ last term.

"I have to thank the fan base for the support they have given the club,” he said. “That is us over 2,500 season ticket holders again. Everyone is buying the new strips and merchandise out of the club shop, things like that really keep the football club going.

“The commercial side of things is going so well too – hospitality is selling out, sponsors are coming in here there and everywhere.

“We fell down at the final hurdle and that wasn’t great but we need you back us on Saturday from 3pm to 5pm.

“A club this size cannot afford to be in League 1 any longer.”

The third tier will see four new sides join the division with Annan Athletic and Stirling Albion replacing Peterhead and Clyde, while Airdrie and Dunfermline have been replaced by Cove Rangers and Hamilton Accies.

On the new-look division, McGlynn reckons it will be just as hard this time around, including on Saturday against the Galabank outfit, managed by Peter Murphy.

He said: “It is a new challenge. With the greatest respect to the guys who went out of the league I think the two coming up will be better than Peterhead than Clyde.

"So we are looking at a hard league again. Airdrie and Dunfermline go up but we end up with another two full-time sides again in Cove Rangers who won this league not so long ago. Hamilton Accies have signed, signed and signed. The guys they are signing are Championship players too.

“Annan did very well to beat Clyde in the play-offs. They are a team that tries to play good football and they are coached well too. Everyone has everything to gain and nothing to lose on the opening day. You can never tell how games are going to go – we want to make a statement, get out of the blocks fast and get an early goal.”

Looking back on the Viaplay Cup group stage, the boss is hoping to missing out on a second round spot this time around may be a blessing.

He said: “We ended off playing 50 games last year which is an enormous amount for a team in League 1, so maybe it did have some sort of impact when it came around to playing the other teams who hadn’t played as many times.

“At all of the clubs I have been with I actually don’t think I have hit that many games in the season – it was a fair amount. For example, we got caught last year a couple of times. We played Dundee midweek and then lost to Kelty Hearts. Is there a common denominator there, yeah you would have to say so.

“But want to be playing in big games against good opposition. You want to play at big stadiums. We would have loved to have gone through and probably should have. The margins were very fine. Cup runs help the football so it is a win win. But we now have full focus on the league to start it off.”

Injury update

“Jordan Allan has a suspension to serve hanging over from last year,” McGlynn confirmed. “He ended off getting a three game ban from that Airdrie match. Sean Mackie is out for eight weeks and we have two struggling currently. We are down to the bare bones. I believe what we have got is enough.”