Kane up there fighting for it

Pars midfielder Chris Kane has his sights set on top spot

Chris Kane joined Dunfermline from Hearts in the summer of 2012 and Saturday's match was the second time he had played against the club where he came through the youth system. He acknowledged that it was nice to play against them but was quick to point out that Hearts was in his past and he was not interested in reflecting on that anymore.

"I am a Dunfermline player and I am dedicated to trying to put us back to where we deserve to be. With the score at 2-0 to them at half time, it flattered them I felt. It was a good header from Brad Mackay and then a very soft penalty. We did ourselves justice in the second half, grabbed a goal back and if you ask any of the Hearts players I think they would be pretty happy with a 2-1 win given the way the game was going."

The 20 year old midfielder was disappointed to have given away what few would dispute was a soft penalty, especially since he knew David Smith had a reputation for going to ground. He continued:-

"I will take that in pre season, if it was a league game it would be a lot more important. These things happen but I am sure that we will get our own decisions sometimes as well."

Chris came off seven minutes into the second half as Jim Jefferies called the regular substitutions that would allow 19 outfield players some game time. From the subs bench Chris enjoyed the procession of young talent that went on to make impressive starts to their season:-

"The tempo calmed down and that allowed our midfielders to get on the ball and show Hearts that we are a good side."

His confidence has been grown out of particularly good performances in training and a pre season work out that he has found most enjoyable!

"Neil McCann has stepped in and taken over it all and it is not the old fashioned old slog running down the sand dunes. It is more technically based with Neil and a lot with the ball . The guys have been enjoying it, there is a good atmosphere around the place. We know it requires hard work and put in the hours with the double sessions but it is enjoyable at the same time. You could see against Hearts that we had plenty touches on the ball and the boys looked pretty sharp. What we are doing on the training pitch we are hoping to bring into the matches - nice and sharp and focussed."

With the 2012-13 season extended by a fortnight for the play offs, the Dunfermline Athletic players have not really had much time to lose their fitness and touch. Chris said that the holidays appeared to go quickly and he felt that he and his team mates had came back in good shape:-

"With us all being young fitness isn't really a problem and we are hungry to get back in and get the games underway to take Dunfermline where they deserve to be. In the first game you normally expect fitness to be a problem but I think we got stronger as the game went on. That is a credit to the work the guys have done over the summer and the intensity of the training as well."

Promotion out of the Second Division is top priority and Chris forcefully articulated the players ambitions:-

"Don't right us off, we can challenge for first place. There are young hungry boys who quite clearly have talent. We understand that the Second Division is a very difficult division - we are not taking anything for granted. Our focus is on first place and if Rangers with their financial backing and superior squad strength do take first position, then there is nothing stopping us from getting into the play offs and going back up to where we were and where we deserve to be."

The team that started against Hearts on Saturday showed only one change from the one that defeated Alloa Athletic 1-0 on 19th May. The ability to retain that squad which ended up with a fair chunk of First Division experience is something that can work in Dunfermline's favour reckons Chris:-

"If we can keep that core together I have no doubt that if we keep training and playing the way that we can, we will be up there fighting for it."