Protocols pay off for Ryan Scully
Friday, 27th Dec 2019“There are no easy games and we know Alloa will take confidence from their recent results over us.
Saturday’s home match against Alloa Athletic will be the sixth game between the teams in 2019 but the visitors are something of a bogey team since the Fifers have yet to win one. Dunfermline goalkeeper Ryan Scully says that his side are are due them one.
“All credit to Alloa, they have played well but obviously there are aspects of the games that we have played them in that we weren’t happy about.
“We should be confident going on our home form, it has been excellent over the last few months. We need to take confidence from that, really take the game to Alloa and hopefully start a winning run again.”
Strange though it might seem that fifth v tenth is a much tougher game than current league positions might suggest. Ryan stressed the competitive nature of the Championship:-
“Every week somebody has something to play for. There are no easy games and you know Alloa will take confidence from their recent results over us. They will be looking to put points on the board as well because they are sitting bottom of the table just now.”
Dunfermline have things to play for as well, they really want the three points to push back up into those play off spots. They have back to back home games against Alloa Athletic and Ayr United so Ryan feels that the team we will be really up for it on Saturday.
“It is all about getting momentum. We got that with the Ayr and Morton games, we know if we can get a victory we have another home game to look forward to. Hopefully we can cement a place in the play off spots.”
Ryan is pleased to be back in the team after suffering concussion at Stranraer and missing the following three games. He praised the attentions of the medical staff and physios who brought him through the protocols of the recovery process:-
“You do feel a lot more looked after these days. I have had a few concussions in the past and it was just a case of going straight back into training on the Monday. People never really knew the effects of it really.
“Kev the physio looked after me brilliantly. He was doing tests and he had a sheet where you had to rate the side effects of the concussion. I had to rate it one to six on how I felt at the time. Then gradually once the numbers went down I was able to start going to the gym and doing some exercise.
“It is a lot more monitored these days. I was looked after very well until it was a case of waiting until I was feeling alright.”
Ryan felt that the protocols are very reassuring for a player and all serve to safeguard his future:
“It is something that I am conscious about because I have had a few concussions in the past. It is a short career so you want to look after yourself, you don’t want to be damaged after football.
“I have heard of boys rushing back into playing and they are out for four months afterwards just because of their heads. It is one of those ones you just have to take day by day and go when you feel ready.”
While Ryan was in recovery Cammy Gill deputised and the team won three out of three. That form had Ryan thinking that he might struggle to get back into a team that was flying. He thanked Stevie Crawford showing respect, putting him back in and showing faith in the 27 year old.
“It is good back playing again, having a spell out isn’t nice and it is good to be back on the pitch trying to help the team out.”
The last two league matches have not been the easiest but Ryan conceded that Inverness deserved the three points:-
“I don’t think we could really argue too much about that. I think Dundee was the most frustrating one, that was a game where the three points were there to be taken. We lost silly goals.
“Inverness are the prime example to us, on our day I think we can beat anybody in this league but it is the consistency that is the difference. Inverness have that consistency with their run of results. That is something that we have to aim at and see if we can improve that.
“When it is not going well can we drag out results. Try and stop the silly goals that we are conceding. It is something we can work on and we know if we get that right then we will be good.”
After the defeat at Dundee Stevie Crawford had the team work on the defensive matters that did not work at Dens Park. Ryan explained what that had meant:
“The spine of the team is important especially the communication side of it. We worked on a few things during the week that went wrong. At Dundee it was more the gaps between defence, midfield and the strikers. It was not just about our defenders, it was about the whole shape of the team.
“We allowed Inverness too much time to get crosses into the box and they have a big team so that is a threat that they possess. It was disappointing that we let so many crosses get into the box. On the other side of it we need to man up as defenders as well.”
In Christmas week Ryan and his team mates had Wednesday off as normal, he explained:-
“It worked out like a normal week for us. It was good to get Christmas Day off and spend the day with the family.
“The last few years have been alright. It has worked out that we have been off Christmas Day, but my first few years I was in on Christmas Day and it was a bit of a shock to the system.”
Confined to ball boy duties collecting balls behind the goals when Ian McCall was the manager at Partick, Ryan can really appreciate the pleasure of family time:-
“Especially as a young boy in my first year I was thinking ‘I cannot believe it, I am in on Christmas Day’. It is nice especially for the people who have kids for them to have time with family. We enjoyed Christmas Day then we were back in on Boxing Day to work hard and look forward to Alloa.”
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