Callum ready to return

Central defender Callum Morris has recovered from his hamstring injury and is ready to join in pre season training

Pars central defender Callum Morris is warning that every game in the Scottish Second Division is going to be tough for his newly relegated team mates. Basing his beliefs on what he experienced when a member of the Newcastle United squad dumped out of the Premiership in 2008-2009, Callum told the website:-

"It was really tough. I was only 19 but trained with the first team every day. Newcastle is a massive club and going down to the Championship was huge for the club. Relegation was horrible for Dunfermline and having played all season in the first team here and got to know the lads you feel worse to be honest.

"The good thing is that they are a group of young lads and they have time to grow. All this is just knowledge. If they take this on board it will do them well in the future."

Competing in the Second Division is something that is not hard to achieve:-

"All the lads know from their experiences in the league above that they are more than capable of competing in the Second Division."

The presence of Rangers in the league is not something that phases Morris, he points out that they are only one of nine opponents that Dunfermline will face in the forthcoming campaign:-

"It is only four games we play against them and we need to go and get all the other results as well. It is obviously going to be tough but I do not see why we can't pip them for first position."

Last season Rangers lost to Stirling, Annan Athletic and Peterhead and failed twice to take full points off Montrose. In the Second Division opponents will be equally keen to claim a major scalp so Callum suggests Dunfermline must apply themselves quietly to collecting full points as often as possible:-

"We might be able to sneak something but having come down a division, opponents will see us as a team to take. They will come to a big stadium like East End Park and that will be one of their big away days. Maybe that makes it easier for us in a way because we are going to have to compete at the top of our game every week now. Everyone is going to come out to beat us but that could benefit us. We are going to have to go out and get three points every week."

Callum missed the all important play off matches after sustaining a hamstring injury in the final match of the league programme at home to Airdrie United:-

"I did it twenty minutes in but with the game being massive I tried to play through it. That wasn't the best idea and it put me out of the play off games. At that time everything was riding on that game and we should probably have won it with the chances we had.

"It was disappointing not being able to help the lads off in the play offs. That is football for you!"

This was a fresh injury for Callum who had no warning of it in the warm up. He
continued;-

"Potts stepped in for the play offs and he has a wealth of experience, he is battler. The boys did themselves proud but it was tough going into play offs against teams who are on a good run. They finished at the top of their league in contrast to what happened to us. No excuses, that is how it goes."

It is less than a year since Callum arrived at East End Park and like all the others that Jim Jefferies brought in at that time the aspirations and to great extent the expectations were that the team would achieve immediate promotion back to the SPL.  The trip to open the league season at East Fife playing in the Second Division is not one that many saw coming:-

"It has been a bit of a rollercoaster" said Callum." You learn from it all and I have enjoyed playing senior football. We have a great group of young lads now and if we stick together can only get better. That is really positive and we can do the business. We have a massive season ahead of us to bounce back up into the First Division."

With first hand experience of managers like Sam Allardyce, Kevin Keegan, Alan Shearer and Glen Roeder to name just four, Callum is well qualified to be able to praise Jim Jefferies for the part he has played:-

"He has been brilliant to be fair, he knows what he is talking about and his man management is brilliant. You just don't want to get on the wrong side of him which you can probably see at East End on a Saturday afternoon.

"They have a great group here with Neil McCann, John and Brian Potter. You can see how John's under 20s players have stepped in to the first team without being out of place at all. We have a great group of coaches and players. It has been a privilege to work and play with them.

"All managers have their different ways of managing and coaching. Chris Hughton was out on the training pitch every day while Joe Kinnear managed from the changing room. What the Manager, Neil and Potts do now really works and everyone buys into it. Everything is positive and can only go upwards.

The 23 year old has been working hard with physio Kenny Murray even before the rest of the squad returned for pre season but after ten days of building body strength he hopes to join the others tomorrow (Wednesday).

"The Hearts game might come a bit too soon for me. I do not want to rush back, there is plenty of time until the season starts so I have to manage it properly to stop it occurring again."