'We must be up for the battle' - Falkirk manager John McGlynn looking for positive reaction from his players against Alloa after shock defeat at Kelty

The fifth-placed Bairns go into the fixture on the back of a meek 2-0 defeat at lowly Kelty Hearts last weekend and McGlynn wants a reaction.

“The boys are certainly going to have to give me a reaction,” he told The Falkirk Herald.

"Because Alloa will play very direct. They will play up to Conor Sammon, they’ll play up to the lad (Ross) MacIver in the air.

"That’s very much what they do. So we’ll need to be prepared to go and match that and win headers and compete for second balls, because that’s the way this game will get played.

"We obviously want to play our style and our formation but we have to be able to deal with the opposition as well.

"It’s going to be there for them to go and show exactly that, that we can do that side of the game.”

For McGlynn, it’s a chance to again lock horns with Alloa counterpart Brian Rice, just over a year after Rice’s Hamilton Accies side incredibly earned a 4-4 Championship draw at McGlynn’s Raith Rovers having trailed 4-0 with just 20 minutes remaining.

McGlynn’s disappointment after that incredible collapse was echoed by the aforementioned loss in Fife last Saturday.

"You have to compete,” McGlynn said. “It’s not all just about passing the ball.

"We had three wins in a row looking to make it four, in good form, in a good place but we didn’t start the game well and we gave Kelty encouragement.

"It’s difficult to give two goals of a start to any team. It put them in a good situation.

"It’s not to suggest we can’t come back from 2-0 down, of course not.

"We have to compete for every ball, on the ground, in the air, whether it’s open play, a set-play, a goalkeeper’s kick out. We didn’t do that well enough against Kelty and that caused us problems.

"We need to make sure we’re exactly that. A lot of that comes from within.

"You’ve got to have that bravery and aggression to go and win the ball.”

Meanwhile, McGlynn reported that Falkirk’s squad is looking healthy for the Alloa game.

"We have no new injuries,” he said. “We have no suspensions.

"We are potentially getting Kai Kennedy and Ryan Williamson back into the squad.

"Maybe not necessarily to start but it has given us more options as well which is good.”