Joe Cardle Post Airdrie

"Anywhere you go there are going to be supporters who don't like you - it spurs me on and every time I get booed makes you know they don't like you.

Joe Cardle left Airdrie in February and spent the season after that keeping fit for the new season at Dunfermline. Returning from exile to make his home league debut against his former club was just the perfect fixture and one that he needed no further incentive to play well:-

"I was expecting the treatment I got from the supporters there but as the game went on I thought I got into the game more, I was getting the ball more. I was expecting them to double up on me and they did, there were two or three on me each time I got the ball,

"As the game went on I got a chance and I had a few shots but unluckily none of them went in."

The welcome from the Airdrie fans only caused Joe to drive his game on:-

"Anywhere you go there are going to be supporters who don't like you - it spurs me on and every time I get booed makes you know they don't like you. It makes you play better and try to get a goal or make a goal."

The disruption to the game in only third minute caused by the need to find a replacement linesman in the ground, took the edge of the Pars early onslaught. Joe had never experienced such a chain of events that ended up with Pars fan, Joe Moore running the line:-

"There was no fourth official and I just couldn't believe, I was stunned it was a weird one. Something new happens everyday. I thought the guy put in a good performance, he wasn't biased at all and that is all you can ask for."

Joe confesses to loving being at Dunfermline. He has move to the town, enjoys training and working hard in the gym. I have taken to the supporters and really enjoying my football. Of course things don't get any better than taking over the mantle of league leaders:-

"It is a great feeling to be top of the league even though the gaffer is not really happy with the performance of the team, you can't really grumble. We should have played better, taken our chances but being top of the league is happy days for three games in really.

"We look to win every league game; we want to win three points every Saturday we play. We have a game on Wednesday in the cup so we will be focussed for that and hopefully win through to the next round."