'No silky soccer' - Falkirk boss John McGlynn on tricky Bonnyrigg Rose Scottish Cup fourth round tie

The New Dundas Park side, managed by Robbie Horn, currently sit in mid-table in the fourth tier, but the ‘Boomtown Bernabéu’ pitch is a real leveller, according to the Bairns’ boss.

The cold front has already forced the hosts too organise a precautionary pitch inspection, which will take place at 11am on Friday, with another official inspection pencilled in for the Saturday at 10am. Should the match fall to the frost, the rearranged date for the fixture will be Tuesday, January 23.

“It’s going to be really bobbly,” McGlynn said ahead of the match. “I’ve not been but our analysis guys are out watching games. We had a look at their most recent game against Dumbarton, and it’s not going to get a lot better.

“Our pitch is massive and Bonnyrigg’s is really tight, so I’m more concerned about that. If it was here it would be much more comfortable. It’s going to be your typical Scottish Cup tie away from home.

“It’s a wee change from the league programme. But we know it’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure. We were there in the summer and we won a friendly which we won 3-0.

“We also played them in the League Cup section the year before and won on penalties. So it’s a tricky wee Scottish Cup tie, we’re looking forward to it.

“We know enough about them, I anticipate this being a game where they play very direct. Paddy Martin, who we know well, kicks the ball a mile so we’ll need to contend with that.

“We’ll need to defend really well and be strong and powerful and deal with these situations and have quality in the final third to win the game.”

Having reached the final four last term as a League One club, McGlynn is hoping to draw on last season’s stunning run, saying the team ‘have the bit between their teeth’ to do well in cup competitions despite the obvious league focus.

“We enjoy the cup. We had a great run last season,” he added. “And bar losing that penalty kick early in the semi-final against Inverness who knows what might have happened? We gave a good account of ourselves on the day and had a really good run.

“And we want another one. We want to be fighting on all fronts. We have a SPFL Trophy semi-final against TNS coming up and we want to keep going in the Scottish Cup as well.

“We have our record to keep a hold of as well so we don’t want to go to Bonnyrigg and go out of the cup and lose our record. The guys are very determined, they have the bit between their teeth. They’ll certainly be up for the game.”

The boss also revealed that star striker Ross MacIver isn’t being ruled out for a place in the matchday squad, or even the starting eleven, despite suffering a nasty knock earlier this month.

McGlynn said: “We haven’t completely ruled Ross out yet. Ryan Shanley is cup-tied. We have other guys who can go in and do a job but we’re not giving up on Ross yet. He has not trained yet, but we knew he would be towards the end of the week, but he has still got a chance.”

Meanwhile, the 60-year-old had his say on the recent transfer saga that saw reports suggest that Bairns’ attacking trio Callumn Morrison, Calvin Miller and Alfredo Agyeman were subject to bids from title rivals Hamilton Accies.

He simply said: “Jamie Swinney has come out and quashed that. “There will not be any players going to Hamilton, that’s for sure. Falkirk fans can rest assure that won’t be happening.”