Is Bain on course to be Scotland's number one?

Eight saves, many of them excellent. Good distribution. And a man of the match performance. If timing is everything, Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Bain may just have played his way into the forefront of the new Scotland head coach's thinking.

Sebastien Pocognoli will soon be announcing his first squad for the forthcoming Nations League games.

With the retirement of Craig Gordon and the lack of recent first-team minutes for Angus Gunn and Liam Kelly - the other two World Cup squad goalkeepers - is Bain the obvious answer to Pocognoli's potential problem?

On the evidence of his display in the 1-1 draw against Dundee United on Saturday - without which his side may well have been beaten given the number of chances United created - he'll be very unlucky not to be recalled to the international fold.

Unsurprisingly, Bain's manager John McGlynn was happy to sing his praises.

"I thought he was terrific," McGlynn said of the 34-year-old, who has earned four caps over the past eight years.

"If you're looking for a goalkeeper who can play from the back and still make saves and bring composure and calmness to your defence, then I think Scott ticks all the boxes. So I have no doubt that the manager will be looking at him."

There will be a number of Dundee United players cursing Bain's name after Saturday's game.

Full-back Kevin Ciubotaru's shot seemed destined for the bottom right-hand corner before Bain intervened. United debutant Lyall Cameron also watched in anguish as Bain denied him.

Another new boy, Zidane Iqbal, arrowed a shot towards the top corner only for Bain to tip it away. And the goalkeeper thwarted Neil Farrugia, too.

It was a heroic display of defiance that very nearly earned his side a first league win of the season, but for Michael Forbes' stoppage-time header.

After a mistake at Celtic Park last weekend, Bain was back to his best.

United assistant manager Lee Sharp was also quick to praise Bain's contribution and agree that he's done his Scotland chances absolutely no harm whatsoever.

"Absolutely," he said. "He had two or three really good saves in the second half."

That was perhaps an understatement. Falkirk faced 27 shots, nine of which were on target. All of which were repelled by Bain until the late leveller.

He has now played 44 games for Falkirk, keeping 10 clean sheets in the process. He kept the ball out of the net in half of his 78 games for Celtic prior to that.

At Dundee, Bain's stats were pretty good, too - 21 clean sheets in 124 games.

Alex McLeish gave him his Scotland debut against Mexico in June 2018, after which he played a further three times for his country. His last cap came against Ivory Coast in a pre-World Cup friendly in March but he did not make the finals squad.

On his current form, he'll have every right to hope there's a new lease of international life coming in Pocognoli's brave new vision for Scotland.