Mckinnon wants Falkirk to ‘ride out’ their troubles and he’ll strengthen in January

Ray Mckinnon has urged Falkirk to “stick together” and “ride out” their troubles until the January transfer window when he hopes to “enhance” the squad he inherited from predecessor Paul Hartley.

The Bairns are currently cut adrift at the foot of the Championship, five points behind part-timers Alloa Athletic, and face another huge task this evening when on-form tabletoppers Ross County visit.

Saturday’s 2-0 loss away to Queen of the South was the ninth defeat the team have suffered in ten league games.

“I need to strengthen the team and get the balance right come January, I know that,” said Mckinnon. “But what we’ve got to do just now is keep working away, keep grinding away and pick up as many points as possible between now and January. And then we’ll possibly get an opportunity to enhance the squad.”

Ayr United manager Ian Mccall is hoping that the hunger his team show when they are underdogs is also in place when they host Alloa tonight.

The Honest Men travelled to Partick Thistle on Saturday and secured a 1-0 win to stay within a point of County, and Mccall said: “We never gave up hunting for the win and that is a great habit to be in. This, however, is a different type of contest as we are probably the favourites to win. We need to handle that expectation.”

Alloa manager Jim Goodwin is looking for his side to again show they are growing in the Championship. “We are heading in the right direction and we can look forward to going to Somerset Park,” he said. Queen of the South manager Gary Naysmith is warning his players to expect visitors Morton to go all out to make amends for Saturday’s 5-0 defeat at Ross County.

Naysmith said: “If our mentality is slightly off we will be in trouble as Morton will be out to push Saturday from their minds.”

Morton boss Jonathan Johansson is demanding better after the capitulation. “We were far too easy to score against,” he said. “We have to show we are not a soft touch.”

Inverness Caledonian Thistle will move back into the top four if they end a run of five successive draws by defeating visitors Dunfermline Athletic. Manager John Robertson said: “We do not have a cutting edge at the moment and hopefully it will return against Dunfermline.”

The Pars sit seventh and lost 2-0 at home to Dundee United on Saturday. “We are losing poor goals and that has to stop,” said manager Allan Johnston.