Bain has rediscovered 'hunger & desire' at Falkirk

Scott Bain says Falkirk have helped him rekindle his passion for football after several seasons as a back-up at Celtic.

The 33-year-old joined the Premiership newcomers on a one-year deal after his contract at Parkhead expired and has since made 14 appearances.

Bain was named in Steve Clarke's Scotland squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Greece and Denmark having won the last of his three international caps in 2019.

Scotland's regular first-choice Angus Gunn is out injured and he believes his move to Falkirk has thrust him back into contention.

"It was all about getting regular games, playing again," he said. "I wanted to see if I still had this desire and hunger.

"And thankfully, after a couple of weeks, I knew that I did. I'd still had that fire in the belly, as they say, and wanted to improve and be better. And over the course of the pre-season, I got my eye back in and I felt really good and really comfortable."

Bain won 14 major honours with Celtic, but had dropped to third choice in his final season.

He was full of praise for Celtic and his time there, but says he missed the "buzz" of being involved on matchday and his priorities in life had shifted.

"There were times when I thought, that's fine," he said of his situation in Glasgow. "Monday to Friday, really enjoyed it, training hard. Everything at the club was fantastic.

"And then it would come to a Saturday and you'd do the warm up. You'd feel the buzz of the game and then the boys would go out. If you weren't on the bench you'd be sat there and you'd think, 'what's the point?' It's difficult.

"If I was just me and had no responsibilities, then I think I probably would have left earlier. But me and my partner, we have a young boy now. So I think the responsibilities of that sort of kept me in.

"Yeah, I get paid well. I get everything that I need. I'm missing the game, but overall, is this going to benefit my family more to be here? And I think at the time it did.

"But the last year I wasn't on the bench really at all. I felt like to go through life without the purpose and the motivation to get better and to play football and to really enjoy it every day. It took over and I needed to get that back."