Wins more important than who scores

Nikolay Todorov- “As long as we win, I don`t care who puts the ball in!”

Dunfermline striker Nikolay Todorov made an instant impact after coming on as a 63rd minute substitute in Tuesday night’s match against Buckie Thistle. The Bulgarian player headed home his very first opportunity from a Kyle Macdonald cross. He went on to slip in a second goal just 16 minutes later and like Lewis McCann on Saturday was left disappointed that he couldn’t complete the hattrick.

The 26 year old did get a good chance for a third but was thwarted by Buckie keeper Lee Herbert as Nikolay explained:-

“Yes, it was a great save from the goalie. I thought I had headed to the right place when I managed to turn it into the opposite corner but the goalkeeper made a very good save and that is what he is there for.”

Nikolay’s two goals were complemented by another for Lewis McCann and contributions from Rhys Breen and Josh Edwards. He has certainly made a good case for his inclusion in the team and while he agreed that it is always good to score goals, he claimed his priority was for the team to win:-

“Who scores the goals doesn’t really matter. If I get the chance I will always score, I have scored plenty of goals in my career so I am just happy that we managed to keep a clean sheet and get the win.”

Two impressive wins from the opening Premier Sports Cup matches has created good spirits in the squad, Nikolay said:-

“It`s been fantastic. We`ve worked really hard in pre-season, it`s been very tough, but it`s buzzing. It was a disaster of a season last season but, in football, it`s the same every week - one game you lose one game, or win. You need to do it all over again on the Monday. It was a bad season but nobody really thinks about it, so we need to go and make sure we repair what we did.

“Nobody wants to lose, nobody wants to get relegated. We really put in hard work last season but it just didn`t work. That’s football, it`s how it happens. Everyone is here, it`s a new season, it`s a new page, everyone is trying to compete, everyone is trying to put the hard work in.”

Nikolay stressed that the most important thing is for the new look Pars to keep building on that, to keep building that momentum, record wins and to excite the fans with goals, clean sheets and the way they play.

“I am just happy that we managed to keep another clean sheet - we have only conceded one goal since we started. It is good to gain those habits. We need to be a little more ruthless, we should have killed the game in the first ten minutes. I am just happy that I was able to contribute and happy for the team that we managed to get a clean sheet and the win.”

Saturday will see Nikolay return to Dingwall and he recalled his last match there where he scored the first of the three Inverness Caledonian Thistle goals that registered a 3-1 Scottish Cup victory over Ross County:-

“Yeah. I won my last game there. For us, we take it game by game, but we regroup again on Thursday and hopefully we can finish what we started up there. As long as we win, I don`t care who puts the ball in!”

Good results in the Premier Sports Cup can be a springboard for success in the league. Nikolay closed:-

“Some teams look at these games as friendlies - for us, it`s a competitive game. We want to build the momentum, we want to win games, and that`s the mentality of the whole team.”

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