Back and ready for Rovers

Iain Wilson is keen to help Dunfermline re-discover the winning feeling

Saturday was a big day for Iain Wilson, his first appearance of the season and his first for Peter Grant. Replacing Ryan Dow after 60 minutes of the Championship match against Thistle, it was Iain’s first match since playing in goalless draw against Hearts on 3rd April. He gave his thoughts from Saturday:-

“It was good to get back out on the park, it has been a long time coming. It has been frustrating, I have had issues with both my Achilles and have been trying to get over that but hopefully I am on the right track now to move forward.

“I was playing through it and don’t know if I damaged it too much by playing on for too long. There is no set in stone way to treat it, it was just trying to find what is right for you. Hopefully that’s it done and I can move on and forget about it. It was fine against Thistle, just a bit tired.”

Partick proved to be hard to break down and Iain felt that a draw was a fair result at the end of the day:-

“They were on a good run and obviously wanted to keep that going. We need a win and both teams were pushing for it.”

The 22 year old who was signed in July 2020 from Kilmarnock where he had come through the youth system has watched from the sidelines as his teammates have tried to find winning ways and he suggested that the manner of the defeats in the first few games was the more disappointing:-

“It has been tough but I think in the last five or six games we have been pretty solid at the back. We have been tight and in this league if you can stay in the game you always have a chance of winning. If we keep doing that I’m sure it will come.”

Iain has returned to action with a new manager in charge at Dunfermline but Peter Grant knows him well having been an opponent while on loan at Queen of the South against his Alloa Athletic team and from the Scotland under 21 squad for whom Iain made six appearances. The manager has made compliments when he talks of the midfielder, Iain commented:-

“It has been good and a fresh start. He has been good to work with. It is nice to hear your manager say things like that about you, hopefully if I can keep getting better fitness wise and with my Achilles I will be able to give something back.”

Hopeful that he can play a part in Tuesday’s Fife derby against Raith Rovers, Iain added:-

“I know that there is competition for places. Everybody just needs to make sure that they are training to their best and the team will get picked from there.”

He was a member of the Queen of the South team that defeated Raith Rovers in the 2019 play offs but missed out on Dunfermline’s play off games against Raith last season. He feels that the next meeting will be another close one:-

“The play off games were tight games, Raith just won it in the second leg. Last season they beat us by a few goals and we beat them by a few goals. It was evenly matched so this one should be another good game. We are looking forward to it and there should be a good atmosphere with the fans back in for the derby.”

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