Lee Miller tells of pride at Falkirk youngsters' efforts after 3-0 Scottish Cup defeat by Celtic

It took hosts Celtic until the 56th minute to breach the defence of a youthful visiting side featuring eight changes from their previous game and that’s something his team can be proud of, reckons Miller.

“I’m really proud of the way the players applied themselves first and foremost,” the 37-year-old told Premier Sports after the game at Celtic Park in Glasgow.

“Half of them haven’t played here, so to step into an arena like this against a top-quality side, I was really proud.

“At the end, there were a lot of them with their heads down a little bit, but I thought ‘don’t have your heads down’.

“They’ve done us proud. They’ve worked their socks off, and it was real fighting, resilient performance.

“I know what squad we’ve got in there – good, honest professionals that are willing to work hard and they enjoy working hard, and that was a tough ask for them today,

“There’s no getting away from the fact that Celtic are streets ahead of us in terms of fitness, in terms of quality.

“Our quality wasn’t quite there in the final third when we did get those breakaways but I can’t argue with any of my players in there. They were all chasing things. Nobody gave up. They were a credit to Falkirk Football Club.”

A deflected drive from James Forrest, making his first start in six months, opened the scoring for the cup-holders on 56 minutes, and midfielder Ryan Christie doubled the hosts’ lead two minutes later, with substitute Mohamed Elyounoussi adding a third goal in the 79th minute.