Never going to be pretty

Pars Josh Falkingham warns that football matches in the third tier of Scottish football will be a bit of a battle

Josh Falkingham wanted to start the game against East Fife on Saturday but had to settle for a seat on the bench. He revealed that he felt fit enough to start after recovering from an injury against East Stirlingshire that had caused his knee to swell up alarmingly.

"I don't think the Manager was too sure about me but I wanted to play. I was honest and truthful. I told him that I probably wasn't a hundred but seventy five to eighty per cent. If he had wanted me to start I would have been more than happy to start the game. That's how I am, I want to play, I do not want to miss any games and I do not want to sit out as a substitute. I want to be out there helping the team.

"It was the Manager's decision, that is why where he is - he makes a decision and you respect that and get on with it."

Midway through the first half Shaun Byrne was injured in a tackle with former Pars player Pat Clarke and the half time assessment ruled him out for the second half meaning Josh was called in from warming up with the other subs at the interval. Josh continued:-

"Unluckily for Shaun, he got a bit of a knock on his ankle and obviously The Manager was able to let me go on at half time."

Josh had a scan on his injured knee after the previous Saturday's game:-

"There was a lot of swelling and bruising came out on it after the penalty. I just landed on it, didn't twist it but I went for a scan just to be cautious because it had swollen quite big. The swelling went down and the results of the scan came back all clear. My knee ligaments and everything was fine, it was just a lots of bruising in about the area which caused me a bit of discomfort.

"It was probably just like a dead leg. When you are running you are going to feel it even more. That was my injury but I got through the game on Saturday fine and thank God we got the three points."

Next up for the 22 year old Englishman is a fixture against Arbroath, the club he left to come to Dunfermline.

"We are looking forward to next week but the main thing was to get off to a winning start. It maybe wasn't pretty and it is a disappointing dressing room which you don't normally get after picking up three points away from home in the first game of the season.

"The boys set their standards high and that's how we train. We are a young team who like to pass the ball but unfortunately we didn't do that today. The surface should have suited us looking to play football.

"Sometimes in this division that's the way that it is going to go. The crowd are there geared up for it, they are going to put an extra ten per cent into the opposition players. We know what to expect but unfortunately against East Fife we just didn't do it and didn't put our game plan into play. It's the three points that matter, not the result as long as we win."

Josh has experience of playing in every league in Scotland but in 2010-11 he played 35 league games in the third tier, so did he consider this match typical of what can be expected between now and May next year?

"It is going to be different this year because people see us as a big club and they are going to raise their games. That is just what we have to deal this year. In my experiences in the Second Division the first twenty to thirty minutes are going to be a tough battle. It is never going to be pretty. You will get worse pitches than this which will not help.

"As long as we can stick in, which I am sure the boys are willing to do - they know what they are expecting, then after thirty minutes that's when hopefully we can get hold of the game. We didn't against East Fife and it was a battle for ninety. Sometimes that's what it is going to be, but if we win games 1-0 I will take that every day of the week."