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Falkirk have been denied permission by Hamilton Academical to speak to Brian Rice about their managerial vacancy.

Rice, who took over as Hamilton boss in January 2019, signed a new one-year deal last month but was unable to save the Lanarkshire outfit from Scottish Premiership relegation.

He played for Falkirk for four years from 1991 and later served as assistant under John Hughes.

League 1 Falkirk sacked co-managers Lee Miller and David McCracken in April.

Sporting director Gary Holt took interim charge but could not arrest the club's late-season form slump as they were consigned to a third consecutive season in the third tier.

Having led the table in late March, they finished fifth and missed out on the promotion play-offs by a point.

Hamilton's seven-year stint in the top flight ended when they finished six points adrift at the bottom under former Inverness Caledonian Thistle and St Mirren assistant Rice.