SMITH PRAISES HOUSTON’S FALKIRK REIGN

ALEX SMITH last night insisted Peter Houston leaves Falkirk with his head held high despite being sacked after a nightmare start to the season. Houston paid the price for no wins in seven league matches, a run that leaves the Bairns in relegation danger near the bottom of the Championship. The 59-year-old was informed on Sunday that he and his backroom team of James McDonaugh and Alan Maybury were being removed with immediate effect. But Smith praised Houston’s achievements of leading Falkirk to the 2015 Scottish Cup Final and twice finishing runners-up in the second tier. ‘I would like to think Peter will leave with his head up knowing he’s had a really good three years here,’ said Smith. ‘It’s just gone wrong in the last month or two and he will be disappointed he’s not got the opportunity to pull the club forward out of the dip.’ A former Aberdeen and St Mirren boss, Smith will take interim charge at Morton on Saturday alongside experienced players Mark Kerr and Lee Miller, and academy director Michael McArdle. And the 77-year-old has confessed to surprise at being back in charge of a team 12 years after leaving his last managerial role at Ross County and four years since stepping in when Steven Pressley left for Coventry City in March 2013. He said: ‘I didn’t think I would be back in this position, I must say. I thought after the last time that would be it. ‘But I’ll help the club and do the best I can.’ The Bairns are expecting a flood of applicants for the job, with former player-manager Owen Coyle the early bookmakers’ favourite.