Keena poised to make competitive debut for Falkirk tonight

Mullingar’s Aidan Keena is poised to make his competitive debut for Scottish League One side Falkirk tonight, as they begin their Betfred Scottish League Cup campaign away to Dunfermline Athletic.

The cup tie against Keena’s former club kicks off at 7.45pm tonight, and will be televised on Premier Sports.

Keena, donning the no. 9 jersey, has hit the ground running at Falkirk Stadium, netting on his debut in a 6-2 friendly win over Scottish Championship new boys Raith Rovers on September 20.

Although defeat against his old club Hearts followed, the Republic of Ireland U21 footballer shot the lights out with a second-half hat-trick against another Championship side, Ayr United on September 26, ensuring a 3-2 victory for the Bairns.

After finishing his preseason with four goals in three teams, the former Mullingar Athletic clubman is likely to feature against Dunfermline along with fellow new signings Akeel Francis and Callumn Morrison.

Falkirk were due to play Kilmarnock in their Betfred Cup Group E opener last Tuesday, but were awarded a technical 3-0 win after Killie were unable to raise a team due to six of their first team players testing positive for Covid-19.

Dunfermline know all about Keena; the striker had a loan spell with the Championship outfit in the 2018-19 season, scoring four goals in 12 games.

Keena (21) joined Falkirk from Hartlepool in August and is due to become a dad this month. He recently trained with the Republic of Ireland U21s, but did not make the trip to Italy for next Tuesday’s qualifier.

Falkirk's League One campaign kicks off away to Montrose on Saturday October 17.