Sibbald raring to go for Bairns promotion push

The 22-year-old brought a long running summer saga to an end last week by putting pen to paper on a one-year contract extension.

Although he has just a second half substitute appearance as trialist for Luton Town against Leicester City under his belt so far, Sibbald will be raring to go for Saturday’s derby date if he comes through unscathed from a runout for Bairns under-20s against Edinburgh University on Wednesday.

And he admitted he had been looking to get his contract finalised by Friday so that he could serve an outstanding suspension and ensure his availability, if selected, for East End Park.

He said: “That last time I told them to shush so I can imagine there will be a few boos, but that‘s what you kind of thrive off.

“I enjoy it and it makes the games better.

“You can’t beat the singing and a good loud atmosphere. That’s what you want to play in and I’m looking forward to it,” he added.

“I feel like they [Falkirk fans] might have thought I wasn’t loyal but I was just trying to get the best situation for me and my future, for my career.

“But I’m happy to just get it done and hopefully I can prove that I still want to be here and still want to get the club promoted.”

Although his trial with Luton didn’t lead to a move, Sibbald still feels he gained from the experience and learned much from his spell on the pitch against Riyad Mahrez and the rest of the Leicester City stars.

He said: “It was a good experience playing against world class players and Premiership winners.

“The full first team played, the only player who never came on was Jamie Vardy. I was playing on the left and played against Mahrez and Simpson.

“Mahrez was skinnier than me, but he just burst away like a deer down the line.

“He’s skinny but has worked on his speed and endurance and he can just get away from players. He doesn’t have to be strong to shoulder barge them off the ball.

“You notice how easy they get out of tight areas and how quick they get from end to end. It was a good experience for me to know what I need to aim to get towards and hopefully I can get there one day.

“It’s everyone’s dream to play against players of that level so it’s given me a taste of it and hopefully I can get some more in the future.

“It was good experience, it was my first time around a different team, I was quite enthusiastic about it and quite enjoyed it.

“But it didn’t work out and I wasn’t really too happy with the Luton thing anyway so I’m quite happy to be back at Falkirk and want to get started and get game time under my belt and get as far up the league as we possibly can.”

“We came short again last year and feel we’re one of the stronger teams this year, even though we’ve not had a good start. But hopefully we can hit the nail on the head and get back to winning ways and hopefully get right back up that league and try - and win it outright this time instead of going to the play-offs because we seem to be unlucky with the play-offs,” he added.