Miller: "We will be thrown these sort of curveballs to deal with"

Falkirk co-manager Lee Miller says the squad moved straight on to preparing for the Dunfermline match this Friday after the cancellation of the Kilmarnock tie.

After the entire Killie squad had to go in to isolation after positive Covid-19 tests representatives from the Ayrshire club met with the SPFL on Monday to discuss their options.

The choices were fielding an Under 18s side or forfeiting the match and the officials from Kilmarnock chose the latter meaning Falkirk were awarded a 3-0 win and three points.

Speaking to The Falkirk Herald, Miller said as soon as the announcement was made they began preparing for this Friday’s match with rivals Dunfermline Athletic.

"Obviously we wanted to play the game because it's another match and more minutes gearing towards the league campaign.

"These things are going to happen throughout the season, we'll be thrown curveballs to deal with, It's just the nature of what's happening in the world.”

Speaking about the awarding of the 3-0 victory and their chances of qualifying from the group, Miller added: “To be perfectly honest we've not really thought that far ahead, we're just preparing one game at a time.

"As soon as we knew it had been forfeited we were focusing on the Dunfermline game.

"But of course in the back of our head we're now think about what this means for our chances of qualifying and going on a cup run."

After having cancelled their remaining pre-season friendlies prior to the Kilmarnock match the Bairns now go in to Friday on the back of a longer than anticipated break from match play.

However, Miller isn’t worried and says the extra rest will help the players prepare for Friday’s game while he and co-manager David McCracken will make the trip to Dumbarton to watch the Pars in action and try and identify any weaknesses they can exploit on Friday.

"We've put loads in place for the players and had an extra bit of training going.

"Now we've got a few extra days to prepare for the Dunfermline game and keep them fresh.

"With our first competitive game in over seven months now being a derby it will be interesting to be thrown that early - for the players to be thrown in at the deep end.

"We took on challenges in pre-season and came out well and made sure players are prepared.

"It's a cracking game on the TV and a chance for the boys to showcase what they can do and hopefully we can give a good account of ourselves and kick on.”

Miller added that he is hoping to finally get a deal for a goalkeeepr over the line this week and have them in place for Friday’s match saying they are “crossing the Ts and dotting the Is” on the deal.