Stenhousemuir boss Gary Naysmith hails Falkirk favourite but is plotting 'shock' in Scottish Cup

Stenhousemuir manager Gary Naysmith believes Liam Henderson’s superb start to life in the Scottish Premiership has been a key factor in Falkirk’s top-six push.

The Bairns haven’t looked out of place in the top flight and they are on course to finish in the top half - with former Edinburgh City and Arbroath ace Henderson playing a key role for John McGlynn’s in-form side. The 29-year-old defender returned to full-time football with Falkirk in the summer of 2022 and has shone ever since. But it was only five years ago that Henderson was plying his trade in the SPFL’s bottom tier, working under ex-Scotland full-back Naysmith at Edinburgh City.

He enjoyed a fine season under the current Stenhousemuir boss, earning a summer move to Gayfield, but the capital club narrowly missed out on promotion to Scottish League One via the play-offs when Henderson was sent off in the play-off final second leg away to Dumbarton - and Naysmith joked that he still couldn’t bring himself to talk to his former player.

Henderson ‘most consistent’ Scottish centre-back

“I'm still not speaking to him because he got sent off in the play-off game against Dumbarton,” he recalled ahead of this Sunday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup tie against Falkirk. “I'm pretty sure if he had stayed on the pitch, we would have got promoted. We lost the first leg 3-1 and we were 1-0 up on the away leg but Hendo got sent off and we just couldn't get the next goal. Dumbarton were dead on their feet then and we just missed out on getting promoted.”

Assessing how Henderson has improved since his time in the lower reaches of the SPFL, Naysmith added: “I think that John deserves a lot of credit because when I got him at Edinburgh City, nobody really knew if he was a left-back, a left centre-half, a holding midfielder or a left-sided midfielder. John and Paul deserve a lot of credit because they've seen something and said, ‘No, you're going to be a centre-half for us’.

“He's good on the ball. I went to the Livingston game on Wednesday night. I think it's really nice when you see a left-footed centre-half. He got the ball, looks comfortable on the ball and passing the ball. He'll also come forward with it. But I could hear him talking in the stands so that's developed in his game. He's got more aggressive in the air, that's developed in his game as well. I'm not saying Liam's the best left-sided centre-half in Scotland, but I would say that he’s probably been one of the most consistent.

“When I managed Liam at Edinburgh City, I wasn't sure if he could get to that level consistently. You could see that he had ability. But he's now playing week in and week out against some of the best strikers in the league and he's holding his own. So I think you've got to give John credit and his backroom staff for finding that position for him and then I think you've got to give Liam enormous credit for actually developing his game and showing that he can comfortably step up to playing at that level.”

Henderson and his Falkirk team-mates head to Ochilview Park knowing that they are massive favourites to progress despite the Warriors also enjoying a fabulous campaign. Stenhousemuir sit level on points with Inverness Caley Thistle at the top of Scottish League One and are unbeaten on home turf going back 18 matches in all competitions. Naysmith has built his success at Stenhousemuir on the back of a solid structure and a team that simply doesn’t concede many goals. And he is hoping that his side can pull off an unlikely upset on home turf.

Stenhousemuir eye ‘unlikely’ Scottish Cup shock

“John won't underestimate us,” he said. “He'll have done his homework on us. He'll have the players well warned about there not being a shock, not being an upset. It's going to be a really difficult game for us, but one that we're looking forward to.

“We pride ourselves on being hard to score against. I never actually knew this, but our goalkeeper Darren Jamieson has just got a new contract and the club looked into his stats. He's had 48 clean sheets in 114 games. I think that's exceptional at part-time level. We'll probably have a few more on top of that because in the Premier Sports Cup and the KDM Evolution Trophy this season, our other goalkeeper Yan Gromov played and had a couple of clean sheets.

“I'm only guessing here, but in the last 120 games the team's managed to have maybe 50 clean sheets. That's what our success has been built on, being hard to play against, hard to score against. We know what we're good at, we know what we're not so good at and we don't make any bones about that. If we come away from what we're good at, we'll come unstuck.”

Naysmith added, “Listen, everybody's looking forward to the Falkirk cup game. I'm delighted that we've got them at home. That gives us a better chance. We've got a hard task, don't get me wrong. But I think it would have been even harder away from home. We're going to need to draw on that home record. I've got to make sure that the players don't lose sight of the actual game, get carried away in that and become overawed. What we have to do is quite simple really - we have to give the best version of ourselves. Giving the best version of ourselves might not be enough. But if Falkirk have an off day there's a chance of creating a shock. Upsets happen. Look at the FA Cup. Macclesfield put out Crystal Palace, the holders. Upsets do happen. They don't happen a lot, but they happen.”

Stenhousemuir trio Leyton Grant, Michael Anderson and Ross Taylor are all doubts for Sunday night’s fifth-round clash. The boss also confirmed that an unnamed star is struggling with a knock - and that the Warriors may only have three outfield substitutes to choose from.