Falkirk has been a “brilliant” loan move for young Dundee star Luke Graham says manager Tony Docherty.
The 20-year-old joined the Championship high-flyers in September and has proved a key figure in John McGlynn’s backline as the Bairns sit top of the league.
Graham graduated from the academy to the Dark Blues first team over the summer and joined the club on their pre-season trip to Poland.
There he found the net in a friendly win over Banik Ostrava and went on to make his first-team debut in a League Cup win over Annan Athletic.
A bigger test would come shortly after as he made his Premiership debut away to rivals Dundee United in a Tannadice derby.
However, he sat on the bench for a number of games afterwards and that wasn’t helping his development says Docherty.
At his age, playing matches is key and he wasn’t going to play enough at Dundee this season.
“He needed that. He needed the opportunity,” Docherty said of the loan to Falkirk.
“He started the season with me and he did a brilliant pre-season with me, playing against Lech Poznan and Banik Ostrava and the derby with us.
“But he needed that regular game time.
“Luke’s a brilliant boy. We sat and had, for a boy so young, a really grown-up conversation about his development.
“His development’s happening at Falkirk.
“You can see that. I’ve watched all his games and he’s doing fantastically well. Even the fact he’s playing right-sided centre-half, he’s doing brilliantly.
“And I can’t credit John McGlynn enough. But that was a process where, for his improvement and development, it’s important you pick the right club and the right people at the club.
“And he’s getting that development there.
“For Falkirk, it’s great. For Dundee, it’s even better.
“Because we’re developing a real footballer there that we’ll see the benefits of.”
Graham, who has attracted the interest of the likes of Rangers, Celtic and Arsenal, is contracted to Dundee until 2027.
This season he has featured 10 times for the Bairns, playing 90 minutes in each game.
Falkirk lead the Championship by six points after 15 matches.
Their next fixture is a Scottish Cup clash away to Lowland League leaders East Kilbride on Monday evening, live on BBC Scotland.
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