John McGlynn on his side's Scottish Cup quarter-final tie: 'Falkirk hit rock bottom last summer - we're now 90 minutes from Hampden'

Now after nearly a year in the hotseat, McGlynn has revitalised the club on and off the pitch, with Falkirk well clear in second spot, having won their Premier Sports Cup group, and now having a shot at Hampden on Monday night against Ayr United in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

“We have ticked a number of boxes,” the boss said of his time at the Bairns so far. “When we came in here if someone had said we’d have a Scottish Cup quarter-final at home to Ayr with the potential of getting to Hampden we’d have bitten your hand off.

“Falkirk weren’t even near the play-offs last season, there was a heck of a job to get done here. Even qualifying from the group stage of the League Cup was a big thing early on.

“So to get so far in the Scottish Cup, the club hadn’t got past the first couple of rounds over the last few years, we have done brilliantly to get where we are.

“We play against an Ayr team third in the Championship, Lee Bullen has done an amazing job there.

“He’s got them up there in a play-off position which is massive for them.

“We’re pleased we have been successful and we’re here on merit, but we want to go further and that’s what we’re going to try to do."

McGlynn added: “Financially it is massive. For the players and fans to have the chance to get to Hampden, it’s the stuff dreams are made of.

“When you look at where we were, Falkirk were almost at rock bottom last summer. So to get there would be a massive achievement and it would mean so much to the people, the town.

“The club has made no secret of the fact they are trying to recoup a £400,000 operating loss. Getting this far will help and getting further would help even more. That would make a huge difference in the short term and hopefully my budget for next season.

“The more successful your club is the better it is for everyone. Guys like Stephen McGinn, it might be his last opportunity to get to Hampden. Did he think he was going to get there when he signed here? Probably not.

“So it’s a real opportunity for senior players and the younger ones to gain the experience going forward in their careers.”

After Tuesday night’s 2-0 defeat to rivals Dunfermline on league duty, the Bairns come into the match on the back of a loss, which is something McGlynn hasn’t had to worry about this year so far – with the Bairns unbeaten until that point.

“Obviously we don’t want to have it hanging over us,” he said. “We want to move on and be positive in the way we want to approach the game.

“We haven’t gone overboard. We have really been doing enough to get the point across and looking to move on. That’s where we are.

“We’re so pleased with the backing we have had. At our last two home games we have had over 4000 people there.

“We played Peterhead and had 4300 there, that’s amazing.

“They have got excited about the cup and going back to Hampden and rightly so, we have a chance.

“If you play Celtic and Rangers you still have a chance but it’s a slim chance.

“We respect Ayr but this is a realistic chance for us, we know on our day at home if we hit top form we’ll give ourselves a right chance to get there.”