Craig Levein accepts he may go into Falkirk fans' bad books for saying manager John McGlynn "deserves an opportunity to go to a bigger club".

The Bairns boss has worked wonders at his current club, taking them from the third tier to the Scottish Premiership, where they currently sit third in the table.

Many have tipped McGlynn for the vacant managerial position at Aberdeen following the sacking of Stephen Robinson.

Former Scotland and Hearts manager Levein said: "I don't know if Falkirk fans will like me for saying this, but I just think he deserves an opportunity to go to a bigger club and see if he can do the same thing again.

"He's a very thoughtful guy. For me, if you look at what he's done, you'd be asking why he isn't getting the recognition he probably deserves.

"I'm biased. I like the guy and I want to see him do really well. But I think he deserves it. I really do."

Levein, who worked with McGlynn at Hearts, added: "His body of work over the last seven or eight years has been exceptional.

"He's worked at Raith Rovers, where there wasn't a lot of money and which isn't a big club as such. Falkirk were really, really struggling when he took over. It's been remarkable what he's managed to do to get them into the Premiership.

"But it's not just about getting them into the Premiership. If you watched Sunday's game [against Hearts], they were fantastic.

"He plays a style of football which I think probably relates back to his time at Celtic under Brendan Rodgers. I watched John's teams before that, and there was a massive change in how he played afterwards."