Wait is heart ache for Joe

Sitting on the bench does get to you, I just keep my head down, keep working hard on the training pitch.

Joe Cardle feels it is an advantage that Dunfermline are full of confidence going into the game on Saturday. Even though they were disappointed with just the draw on Tuesday night, the team is playing well and scoring goals.

"We are creating a lot of opportunities. We are going there with our tails up and hopefully get another three points.

"They are all big games but Saturday is a chance for us to go and push on again. We had them watched on Wednesday night and that was a big game for them with a chance to get themselves in the mix. They will be a bit deflated after that result against Raith.

Joe said that Dunfermline were very frustrated in the match against Queen of the South.

"I felt that we were the better team on the night. The way that they were wasting time with half an hour to go summed it up. You get games like that. Earlier on in the season we might have dropped the points and not even got a draw. You have to look at the positives. A point is better than zero at the end of the day and we can go and get three on Saturday."

The league is tight claimed Joe:-

"It is crazy how you are never too far from getting into the top four but drop a few points and you could be in the mix as well. Saturday is a big game for us and if we can go there and pick up the three points we can be in the mix to get in the top four."

The high expectations at the start of the season to go for successive promotions were tempered after a disappointing start to the season. Joe felt that it took the players and management a bit of time to get up to speed in the Championship:-

"If we don`t manage promotion this season we will definitely be doing it next season for sure."

Joe last started a match on Boxing Day and of the eleven matches since he has come off the bench in eight and only played 133 minutes in total. Acknowledging that the team is doing well, he accepts that he needs to work hard to get back into the starting eleven:-

"It has been very frustrating but I am working hard and waiting for my opportunity. I want more game time and I have not missed much football in my career through injuries. Sitting on the bench does get to you, I just keep my head down, keep working hard on the training pitch. Hopefully when I do get that opportunity I take it with both hands. I`d like to be back in the team sooner than later."

On Tuesday night Joe came on as a 63rd minute sub but felt that the pitch denied him the chance to get his passing game going.

"Hopefully the pitch will get better throughout the season" but being involved made it feel so much better:-

"At thirty year old you are climbing the wall when you go home at night so to get that half an hour on Tuesday night, even though there were bits I could have done better. You are trying to impress in that time which is tough but part of football."

Watching from the bench how does it feel when you have maybe only a few minutes to make an impact?

"It depends how the game is going. In the Dumbarton game there were so many chances, it was a game where I would have loved to have been on the pitch to score goals and create goals. There are games when the boys are losing and two or three goals down, I don`t know what I am going to supply in five minutes. At all time I want to be on the pitch.

"The gaffer is happy with what the boys who have been starting before me have been doing. They are scoring goals and making chances. It is a case where I have to bide my time."

Apart from a spell at Ross County this is the longest Joe has been out of the first team. He has been a regular most of his career, it has been tough but he claims "you live and learn". There is another year to run on Joe`s contract at Dunfermline, it might have been a lot different if it was up at the end of the season.

"Everyone knows how much I want to put on the black and white and play for Dunfermline. It has been very frustrating, Dunfermline is very close to my heart and obviously I want to play for the club. Time will tell but hopefully the luck falls in my favour and I can be back in the team."