Ever-present Edwards up for Ayr

Josh Edwards has grabbed the number three shirt and his goal is to keep the jersey

Strong Ayrshire rivalry means the Pars’ Kilmarnock-raised defender, Josh Edwards always likes to play against Ayr United. He told the website:-

“Ayr is quite a big game for me, I enjoy going down there. I haven’t lost a game against them so it is quite a happy hunting ground for me. We did alright last year there, we won 1-0 but if I remember right it was quite an edgy last 20 minutes.”

It was Josh who made the break for the Pars winner, he recalled:-

“I intercepted a diagonal pass and I nicked in to lay it off to Greg Kiltie and he crossed it in for Kevin Nisbet to score. We scored half way through the first half but we just dropped back and defended it. It was a good result and a happy memory.”

Josh who had a short spell at Ayr United as a youth before returning to boys club football, watches the Somerset Park club’s fortunes. He was well aware of how at 2-0 up Ayr had conceded three goals in the last seven minutes to lose their last match away to Morton:-

“Ayr had a rough game at the weekend so they will be right up for it. It will be a tough game. Shieldsie has told me about their striker, Bruce Anderson, because he was here on loan.

“I went to school and played boys club with Michael Hewitt who plays there now. There are quite a few new people there but I also know big Innes Cameron, I was at Killie with him and he is on loan there now.

“I will probably be playing against Luke McGowan on the right wing. I have played against him a couple of times and he is a good wee player. I know what I am up against, it will be a tough game - Ayr is always a tough game to be fair - but I feel that we play quite well when we play Ayr. I just always feel that we have the beating of Ayr and hopefully we can keep that going.”

The 20 year old who was signed from Airdrieonians in July 2019 has enjoyed the six wins from the first six league and cup matches and he was especially pleased with their defensive achievements, he added:-

“It has been a good start. To be fair I felt I had a bit of a slow start in the friendlies but as soon as the first competitive game came I just hit the ground running. I kind of clicked and I feel that I have been playing really well at the minute and I feel that we are quite solid at the back. Obviously we have conceded a few goals recently but I feel really confident in the team and how I have been playing recently.”

Last season Josh made 19 starts plus 6 appearances off the bench out of 35 Dunfermline matches. This season along with skipper Euan Murray, Josh is the only Dunfermline player to have played every minute of every competitive game.

“Obviously I didn’t play much last year, I had my on and off games. It was fair enough that I didn’t play every game. It wasn’t great last year but this year I feel that I have hit the ground running, I have done what I have need to do during the games, defended well and I feel that I am helping the team out.

“I feel that I am in a good place at the minute, I feel that I am playing well and I am enjoying it. It is hard not to when you have won all six games.”

One of the best bits for Josh has been having Dom Thomas in front of him. He praised the former Kilmarnock player’s contribution to all the successes:-

“He makes my job a lot easier, all I need to do is give him the ball and he makes me look good. If I keep doing that we will keep win games.”

Dom has been taking most of the free kicks but Josh has also been successful with his deliveries to provide competition to take free kicks:-

“Dom has been putting it on a plate for everyone recently. I had one free kick in the Inverness game that I sent to the far post and we scored from that. I felt it was a bit too far out for Dom and I told him to ‘you push on I will take take’. We ended up scoring from it but Dom has plenty of assists to show for his deliveries. I am more than happy to let him keep taking them. I will step back and just back him up.”

This season Josh desperately wants to be more consistent than he was last.

“The goal for me is to keep the jersey, just keep going, keep playing the way I am, hopefully results keep coming and I keep my place.”

Playing with number three on his jersey it could be assumed that the management team felt that Josh would be filling the left back slot when they assigned him that squad number. Josh revealed however that his number came about through grabbing an opportunity:-

“The gaffer texted me in pre season and asked me if I wanted a change of number. I asked what was available and he texted me the numbers. Three was available, so I took that. I got lucky with that one!”

Related Stories

• Preview Ayr United
• Manager on Thursday
• Owain Fôn Williams returns to international stage
• Lifeline Winners – 31 October 2020