ARFIELD DELIGHTS BOSS HUGHES

Hughes - praised youngster Scott Arfield,

Falkirk manager John Hughes hailed fast learner Scott Arfield after the youngster's second-half double helped lift the Bairns off the bottom of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

The 19-year-old grabbed his side's second goal in the 4-1 win over Hamilton with a magnificent solo effort before adding a fourth with a penalty late on.

Hughes finds the Scotland Under-21 international a joy to work with and claims he has all the attributes to go far in the game.

He said: "I see Scott progressing. We've said to him he needs to add goals to his game this season and he got two, albeit one from the penalty spot, although he was brave enough to take it.

"I can only say he's got a great chance in the game because he listens and he does everything with a smile on his face.

"He wants to get better and he is a very humble boy, and that's what you want to work with. He doesn't get carried away, he just wants to be the best he can possibly be.

"He's still got so, so much to learn but he wants to learn every day.

"He's only 19 but the most important thing with him is he keeps his feet on the ground."

Hughes was thoroughly satisfied with his side's second-half display but admitted the eventual scoreline was slightly flattering.

He said: "In the first half, I felt Hamilton were the better team and we were a little bit fortunate to go in at half-time 1-0 up.

"We had to take them in at half-time and regroup, get a few things sorted out and get the belief in them to pass the ball.

"When we did that we were worthy winners.

"To score four is always nice but there wasn't four goals in it, although I think the second-half performance meant we deserved to go and win the match."

Hamilton manager Billy Reid felt his side's extra-time victory over Motherwell in the Co-operative Insurance Cup in midweek had taken its toll on his players.

He said: "They say goals change games and it was a big, big thing for us to lose that goal just before half-time after, I think, being the slightly better side in the first half.

"Without making excuses, I think Wednesday evening had a big bearing on us in the second half. We looked really, really tired.

"I'm not going to be despondent with the score. It's not as if we were outclassed. They scored at the right moment and we made a couple of mistakes.

"We're not going to press the panic button because Falkirk didn't over-run us or anything like that."