Dumbarton manager Stevie Farrell admits he used Falkirk’s reputation to motivate his troops as his side made it three wins in a row on Saturday.

Kalvin Orsi’s second goal of the season, and a first for the club for Callum Wilson, secured a 2-1 victory for Sons against their full-time opponents as they moved to joint top of League One.

The Bairns, a top flight side as recently as 2010, are heading into their third season in the third tier – and Faz was keen to ensure his players were not intimidated by the occasion.

Speaking after the match, he said: “I thought without the ball for 90 minutes we were excellent. Our shape and organisation was excellent. That’s what we’ve been working on really hard.

“I said to them at half-time they’ve been brilliant, but the one thing they hadn’t been good enough at was with the ball.

“I told them if we continue to be as good without the ball, and we take it up with the ball, then I think we can win the game.

“At the start of the second half when we turned it over in the transition – we kept the ball better, we started to play the right passes and make the right decisions, which stretched Falkirk in areas they didn’t like to be in.

“There’s an expectation in Falkirk. They are a former Premier League club but they’ve not been there for a long while, and I reminded the players of that before the game.

“That’s not being disrespectful, but I reminded them that we are coming to a stadium that’s Premier League [quality] but they are a League One club.

“We weren’t to be fazed by that, or overawed by that, and we were to go and challenge that and enjoy it.

“There’s a good spirit in the dressing room and I’m not just saying that because they’re winning games of football.

“We’re not getting carried away. We enjoy it between now and Tuesday and we work like hell on Tuesday and Thursday in relation to Alloa.”

Wilson made it 2-0 after he skinned two Falkirk defenders before applying a cool finish – though the Sons boss believes the 18-year-old has put in better performances despite finding the scoresheet for the first time.

Faz joked: “I actually thought performance wise he was murder today with the ball and he kept giving it away!

“But that’s what he is capable of. He’s fearless and I’m delighted for him.”