Paul Hartley hopes Rees can be lucky number 13

Greenwood is the thirteenth new face through the doors at The Falkirk Stadium this summer, and is another to move north of the border from England.

The 21-year-old moves up from Gateshead, having come through the academy at Sunderland and been involved in the first team there.

“He lost his way a little bit last year at Gateshead but we saw something in the time that he was up,” Hartley said on the young winger.

“He’s taken a backwards step to move forward, he knows that. It’s a good opportunity for him - we want to work with him, improve him and make him better.”

Greenwood made his Sunderland debut alongside Falkirk’s Tommy Robson and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, and now makes the move north to re-join Robson.

Hartley hopes he can improve the team, and explained what type of player Falkirk fans can expect to see when he makes his debut.

“He will add pace off the left-hand side and will definitely add a different dimension in terms of pace.”

Greenwood, much like many of the Bairns’ new signings, is young and comes north of the border from English football - where he hasn’t had a great deal of first team action.

Having made his Sunderland debut playing 52 minutes in an end of season Premier League draw with Watford in 2016, Greenwood never made another senior appearance for the Black Cats.

Hartley realises this is the case for a lot of his new signings. “We are giving them an opportunity, it’s up to them to grasp it and if they do well, we aren’t going to stand in anyone’s way.”