The £27m Celtic bench that saved the day as Brendan needing big guns says it all about fearless Falkirk

It said it all about Falkirk’s sterling display at Celtic Park that Brendan Rodgers had to send for his big guns to finally get the better of the Bairns.

John McGlynn and his Championship hopefuls managed something no other side in Scotland or beyond this season, they had Celtic rattled. Rodgers wanted to rest some of his key men after a hectic start to the season and a draining Champions League battering of Slovan Bratislava. But he ended up needing some of those guys to come off the bench and made sure of their spot in the last four of the Premier Sports Cup thanks to a last-20 blitz.

Adam Idah’s double inside two second-half minutes hauled it around after Ross MacIver and Finn Yeats had twice given the Bairns the lead either side of Paulo Bernardo’s initial equaliser to lead going into the home stretch. Nicolas Kuhn was the major spark as he set up both of the Irishman’s goals before adding a stunning double to pick up the man-of-the-match champagne in just 30 devastating minutes. But the previous hour was no stroll as Falkirk helped turn a potential formality into a cracker of a cup tie.

No wonder their 2000-strong band in the corner gave it laldy all day. Their side were superb and for an hour they were bang in the hunt. Celtic had £23million of transfers in the starting line up – but another £27m worth on the bench. Not bad back-up when the initial team were not doing so hot.

There were mixed bag starts for Auston Trusty and Alex Valle, while Luis Palma struggled and others couldn’t quite get going. It wasn’t until Kuhn, Arne Engels, Greg Taylor and Yang appeared when Celtic finally went through the gears. It showed the strength Rodgers can have in reserve. But also the work some others will need to put in if they