ATHLETIC have confirmed that this Saturday's Irn-Bru Cup tie with Falkirk will go on despite five of the club's players being called up for international duty.

Chairman Ross McArthur released a statement that said the Pars would not be seeking a postponement from the SPFL despite being without several key players for the game.

Captain Callum Morris became the latest player to be called-up yesterday when he received the call from Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill for their World Cup qualifiers with Germany and Norway this week.

His selection comes after Callum Smith and Stuart Morrison - on loan at Edinburgh City - joined up with Scotland's under-19s ahead of friendlies with France tomorrow (Wednesday) and Friday, Ryan Williamson being picked for the under-21s and their European Championship qualifiers with England on Friday and Latvia next Tuesday, and Fraser Aird being selected by Canada for a friendly with El Salvador.

SPFL rules state that "A Club shall be entitled to apply to the Board for the postponement of any Official Match where three or more of its Players who would otherwise have participated in such match are unavailable through international selection and, following receipt of such an application, the Board may postpone and rearrange the relevant Official Match in accordance with Rule G3."

But the prospect of the tie at the Falkirk Stadium being rearranged was ruled out by the Pars, with McArthur commenting: "Firstly, can I congratulate our Club Captain, Callum Morris, on being called up today to the full Northern Ireland squad for this weekend`s matches.

"It is well deserved and thoroughly merited after Callum's performances since joining us in January. Likewise, I would like to congratulate Fraser Aird, Ryan Williamson, Callum Smith and Stuart Morrison for their international call ups last week.

"I cannot remember the last time DAFC had 5 players involved with the various international squads, but it is undoubtedly yet another sign of the progress our club has made under Allan Johnston.

"As a result of these call ups, having checked the matter this afternoon with the SPFL, we did have the option to request that Saturday`s game at Falkirk be rescheduled. It is further compounded by the fact that we have 3 first team players injured at present.

"However, having discussed the matter further with Allan, it was agreed that we will play the tie as planned to avoid any further difficulties with the fixture being rescheduled to a midweek date. I have notified Margaret Lang, my counterpart at Falkirk accordingly, to allow our hosts to keep their existing match plans in place.

"I wanted to notify supporters as soon as possible to avoid any further questions being raised as to whether the match will go ahead or not."

The game has a 3pm kick-off on Saturday and tickets, priced £10 for adults, £5 for concessions (under-18s, over-65s and students), are available from the club shop and ticket office.

Under-12s are admitted free.