Several Dundee United players will have been left frustrated by Bain following Saturday’s encounter.
Kevin Ciubotaru appeared certain to find the bottom-right corner until the goalkeeper stepped in. Bain also denied United debutant Lyall Cameron with another impressive stop.
New signing Zidane Iqbal then drove an effort towards the top corner, but Bain managed to turn it away. Neil Farrugia was also prevented from scoring by the inspired goalkeeper.
His outstanding resistance almost secured his team their first league victory of the campaign, only for Michael Forbes to score a stoppage-time header.
Having made an error at Celtic Park the previous weekend, Bain responded by returning to peak form.
United assistant manager Lee Sharp praised Bain’s impact and agreed that the performance had significantly strengthened his prospects of a Scotland recall.
“Without question,” he said. “He produced two or three excellent stops after the interval.”
Even that assessment may have been modest. Falkirk conceded 27 attempts, with nine hitting the target, and Bain stopped every one until the late equaliser.
Bain has now made 44 appearances for Falkirk and recorded 10 clean sheets. Before joining them, he prevented the opposition from scoring in 39 of his 78 outings for Celtic.
His record at Dundee was also respectable, with 21 shutouts across 124 appearances.
Alex McLeish handed Bain his Scotland debut against Mexico in June 2018, and the goalkeeper went on to represent his country three more times. His most recent appearance came against Ivory Coast in a pre-World Cup friendly in March, although he was not selected for the final tournament squad.
If he maintains this level of performance, Bain can reasonably hope to revive his international career under Pocognoli’s ambitious plans for Scotland.
What do you feel about this post?
Like
Love
Happy
Haha
Sad
