Former Celtic striker John Hartson has become the latest name to throw his hat into the ring for the vacant Falkirk job.

The 34-year-old has been carving out a career as a football pundit since retiring as a player after an unsuccessful spell at West Brom in 2008.

The Bairns have been without a manager since John Hughes departed for Hibernian last week and have been besieged by applicants.

Ian McCall, Alex Rae, Steven Pressley and Eddie May are all thought to have applied with senior players Jackie McNamara and Neil McCann making a joint claim for the post.

Jim Jeffries and Gordon Chisholm have also been linked and managing director George Craig insists they will act sooner rather than later.

"It is absolutely vital that we move quickly to make a new appointment as we have several out-of-contract players," said Craig.

"We need our new management team in place as soon as possible and the squad fully prepared for our first European tie on July 16."