Falkirk rocked by three key injury blows amid European chase as Hibs mission that's not so impossible planned

John McGlynn insists Falkirk catching Hibs isn’t an impossible feat - but it’s been made more difficult by three injury blows.

Goalkeeper Scott Bain, Swansea City loanee Filip Lissah and centre-back Liam Henderson are all set to miss this weekend’s match with Celtic. It’s been a fantastic return to the Premiership for Falkirk and they are five points off Hibs in fifth, with five games to go, all against top six opposition including David Gray’s men on May 9th.

Fifth could become a European spot if Celtic win the Scottish Cup, and Falkirk themselves have missed a big chance to contest the final, after a bruising penalty shootout exit to Dunfermline Athletic last weekend at the semi-final stage. McGlynn admits it’s been a tough week, made harder by key injuries to the likes of his Swansea City loanee he’d like to send out on a high, but roping Hibs into sixth remains an internal target.

What is Falkirk’s injury situation?

McGlynn said: “We’ve hit an injury blow. Scott Bain is going to be out, Liam Henderson is going to be out and Filip Lissah is going to be out. These are three key players that have picked up injuries from the game last Saturday on top of Louie Marsh and Ethan Williams. These players have played virtually every game. They’re guys that are first picks.

“It’s a huge blow to lose them for going away to Celtic Park, which is always a hard game anyway. Scott could be an issue. He hurt his ankle and got a scan on it. There’s nothing broken but there’s a bit of bone bruising and it’s a bit tender It’s not straight- forward, but I don’t think it’s going to go into the summer. If anything it might be a two or three-week thing.

“He might still be able to get a game in before the end of the season. Fingers crossed. Liam Henderson has got a little bit of a hamstring injury. Not too serious, but it’s not cleared up enough in time for Saturday. Filip has been nursing something on his ankle which has shown up a little bit in the MRI scan.

What is Falkirk’s aim for the rest of this season?

“We’ll just need to manage him between now and the end of the season. He’s not going to be able to play this week. He might be able to come back in towards the end of the following week. He might be able to give us something between now and the end of the season. The fans think a lot of him, as they do of all the players.

“We’d want a situation where he can say goodbye to the fans. Hopefully he’s going to go back down to Swansea and play his football with Swansea. Regardless of what happens, it’s still been a great season because we would have bitten your hand off to be in a top-six position. We can never forget that. We’ve punched so much above our weight, make no mistake about that. Catching Hibs is a tall order, but it’s not impossible. Five points over five games.

“Of course, we’re playing five teams above us and three of them are vying for the top spot, which means that there’s not going to be any quarter asked or given by all of them guys.”

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