Byrning chances

Shaun Byrne has scored his first Pars goal but it should have been a hat trick!

In his 25th appearance for Dunfermline, Shaun Byrne celebrated his first senior goal but he felt that Saturday's match against Arbroath should have seen him notch three:-

"It was good to get off the mark but we were really disappointed with the result. I felt I should have scored another two."

Shaun was 19 when he made his first team debut in the New Year Derby against Raith Rovers. He made the first team on merit long before he was joined by others from the youth team, pitched in after the first team squad was trimmed by administrators BDO. He reflected upon how things changed all around him:-

"It's obviously been tough with everything that's happened and hopefully it's all done now. I think we have proved that we can be a good team when we play. All the young boys have done well when we've come into the team. I think we'll get better but we need some confidence again from somewhere.

If we maybe get a win under our belts it'll give us that and we can kick-on from there."

Shaun experienced the hurt of relegation on the rollercoaster that defeated Forfar in extra time, only to go down to Alloa:-

" It was disappointing but I think everything that happened last year can make us stronger. We've got a good chance of challenging this season and a good chance of a good promotion push again, and hopefully we can get back up to where we should be."

Two defeats in a row has not been the best preparation ahead of meeting Stenhousemuir who will open a six point gap ahead of the Pars if they can win. Shaun explained how the players felt about the defeats:-

"It's been basic errors and individual mistakes that have cost us in the last few games and I think we just need a win again to get us going and pick up more confidence from that."

Shaun admitted that he he a good chance against the Rovers that keeper David McGurn managed to claw away, he reckons that he needs to start shooting more often:-

" Neil McCann has been encouraging me to drive on and get more shots at goal. It's something I definitely need to start doing more of."

So the next opportunity takes Shaun and his team mates back to Ochilview Park where they defeated East Stirlinghshire just three weeks ago. He remembered the playing surface as a problem:-

" The pitch isn't great there but obviously we've just got to battle. It will be a tough game and they have been doing well, winning their first two league games, so we know it's going to be a hard game for us. We've just got to prepare for it right and I think we are prepared for it."

Being prepared means something different this season in the third flight of Scottish football:-

"A lot of games are going to be about battling this year instead of maybe playing nice football so we're maybe going to have to roll the sleeves up a bit more and dig the results out like we did against East Fife and even East Stirling. I think there's going to be a few games like that this year."