Headed goal has Lee in stitches

Testing time is well worth it for Pars goalscorer Lee Ashcroft

The Rangers doctor had to administer five stitches to the forehead Lee Ashcroft after a clash of heads with Fabio Cardoso during the Betfred Cup tie on Wednesday. On Saturday he showed no ill affects and proved that by scoring, with his head, against Inverness Caley Thistle. The centre back explained how he wanted to give his injury a thorough test before accepting his place in the starting eleven:-

"I wanted to head it before I played with the bandage on and I wanted to know what it was like. It was absolutely fine and Kenny (Murray) strapped it up well and had a bit of padding on it as well so it was fine during the game."

The Pars central defender was forced off the pitch for treatment 21 minutes into the match at Ibrox to re-emerge minutes later with a bandage wrapped around his head. He continued:-

"I did not feel like it was a proper head clash, or a proper smack I thought it was sweat running down my face but then I saw the blood everywhere. I thought `oh no` I had to go off straight away. They didn`t have time to stitch it up during the game so I just had it bandaged during the rest of the game."

"We were all disappointed with the way Wednesday went. We know that we could have made a better account ourselves than that. Rangers were mega favourites but we went there thinking that we had a slight chance but obviously they started very well on the front foot and from there things just went down hill.

"We know that we are better than that. Saturday was a big game for us to bounce back and show that. It was a great response from the boys and I think that is Wednesday behind us now and we can move on and push up that league."

Lee revealed that in training he had done his assessment of the potential pain and despite advice to rest it, he headed in all the balls as his teammates practiced corners.

"It felt a bit uncomfortable but it was handable. It looks quite bad but it is not the worst one I have ever had. During the game your adrenalin is going and you don`t really feel things like that. It is not until after that you get a bit of a sore head. It has been absolutely fine."

Lee considered Inverness Caley Thistle to be favourites to go straight back up to the Premiership so Saturday`s 5-1 scoreline was a very encouraging result.

"It is a very open league this year but I thought they were going to be one of the better teams. For them to come here and us to play as well as we did it can only give us confidence for the games coming up.

"There is another hard one here next week (v Falkirk) but I think our results here and the way that we have been playing, I think a lot of teams will be fearing coming here now!"

Manager Allan Johnston has been giving Lee stick for not scoring enough goals.

"I get that all the time. I criticise myself, I only scored four last season but it is definitely something that I want to improve on and get more. It was a good start to go 2-0 up. I am harsh on myself as well and I want to improve all over the park. I think goals are something I can definitely add more to.

"A lot of games will be tight and I want to be make sure that when it comes down to setpieces I can score as many as I can. Sometimes the setpiece goals make all the difference."

Helping to make the difference for Dunfermline is the successful partnership Lee Ashcroft enjoys with Callum Morris, he added:-

"It is never easy a change in partnership but since Callum has come in we have gelled from quite early on. Last season we never lost many games together either. He is a very experienced player and a cracking guy as well, I am enjoying playing beside him and hopefully we can keep our performances up like that and go and challenge in that league."

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