Ray runs rule over Bairns in bouce game

RAY McKinnon ran the rule over his Falkirk fringe players in a bounce game against St Mirren yesterday as he bids to find a winning formula.

The new Bairns boss has confessed he is still getting to grips with the squad he inherited from Paul Hartley after making the shock decision to leave Morton just three months into the job to take charge of the team rock bottom of the Championship.

His league debut at the helm at the weekend ended with a 3-2 defeat to Ayr United, a fifth straight loss, despite the Westfield side taking a two-goal lead.

And, ahead of Saturday’s clash with old team Dundee United, McKinnon stepped up his fact-finding mission with a closed-door match against the Buddies in Paisley.

He said: “It was a decent work-out. It was just to keep people ticking over. There’s a large squad of players who regard themselves as first-team players and we need to make sure that, if called upon, they’re ready to play.

“There was no reserve game this week so we just arranged the match to give the other boys a run-out. It was a worthwhile exercise.”

Meanwhile, Lewis Toshney made a scoring return for Dundee United yesterday as he stepped up his comeback from a long-running knee injury.

The 26-year-old played for the final 25 minutes and scored with a header from a corner as the Tannadice reserve side lost 2-1 to Rangers in St Andrews.

Reports have suggested the former Celtic, Ross County and Raith Rovers defender is battling to save his career after almost 12 months on the sidelines hardly kicking a ball.