There was a lot to be proud of from Dumbarton’s performance against Falkirk on Saturday according to manager Stevie Aitken.

It was goalless at the Falkirk Stadium until substitute Lee Miller tapped in Luke Leahy’s cross after 86 minutes to break Sons’ hearts.

But Aitken was pleased with his side’s performance against the team who finished runners-up last year. He said: “It’s hard to take. I don’t think the players deserved to lose that game.

“They showed the work rate, the commitment, everything today, it was really pleasing, and at a tough venue. Falkirk are a good side and for large parts of the match we went toe to toe with them.”

Despite Falkirk dominating possession, the visitors had numerous chances themselves, including a goal line clearance and Josh Todd’s effort in the second half.

And goalkeeper Alan Martin, signed from Hamilton in the close season, kept the Sons in the gamewith some fantastic reaction stops.

Aitken added: “A lot of people asked why we brought him in when we had two good goalkeepers, but we wanted to strengthen the squad, and we knew he was available. He’s a really good goalkeeper and he’s proved it.

“The Dundee game he was terrific; at Cappielow and today I thought his handling was terrific.

“And I feel for him. He’s gutted as the rest of them are because we came close to getting what would have been a terrific point.”

And the Sons boss is hopeful they can make one or two new additions to the squad before the transfer window closes tomorrow.

“We’ll see what there is. We made some calls again last week and I’ve said since day one that we need to make sure they’re the right players for Dumbarton, and when one or two of them become available then we’ll work hard to try and get them.”

Dumbarton were also boosted by the return of Garry Fleming and Darren Barr, both coming off the bench to make their first appearances in the league campaign.

And Aitken will try to rotate his squad as much as he can, with winger Andy Stirling likely to start against his former club Stranraer.”