Craig expects tough time in Peterhead
Friday, 18th Nov 2022CW - “I enjoyed watching the game to see how the young boys did
Even though he feels that he is back to full fitness, Craig Wighton was content to watch Tuesday night’s SPFL Trust Trophy tie against Celtic B from the substitutes’ bench. He told the website:-
“It was good for a few boys to get a game and get some minutes. I enjoyed watching the game to see how the young boys did. I think they all showed up well, good to get a chance to show the manager what they can do and Celtic were good to watch as well, they played some good football.”
Three sixteen year olds - Sam Young, Taylor Sutherland and Andrew Tod - all made their starting debuts and there were also two seventeen year olds on the bench - Michael Beagley and Jake Rennie. All are showing benefits from training with the first team as Craig explained:-
“They play on Friday nights so obviously not on a Friday but most of the week they train with us. There are a few good young players, Taylor and a couple of the others are not in all the time but it is good for them. It is good that we do have a small squad because they can train with us and show the manager what they can do.”
Craig kept a careful eye on Taylor Sutherland who opened his account in just the third minute of his debut and smiled at the suggestion that he might have to watch his place!
“I thought he was really good on Tuesday night. He is not one of the ones I have seen much of but his goal was good and his overall play, link up play and movement impressed. Hopefully he can kick on as well.”
The 25 year old who joined Dunfermline from Hearts in the summer of 2021 after a loan period, was happy to come on as a sub for Nikolay Todorov early in the second half and the side recorded a good result to be able to look forward to the weekend and like every game in League One that can be expected to be a tough one. Peterhead’s manager, Jim McInally, resigned earlier this week but Craig thought it too soon for caretaker manager Davie Nicholls to make any big alterations to the Blue Toon’s approach:-
“I don’t think they will change it too much. I think they only train two nights a week, whoever is in charge will probably not have had a lot of time to change much, they will be similar to the way Jim McInally had his team set up. It will be a little strange going there and he won’t be in charge. At the end of the day, we know how we want to play, it is up to us to go and do that and hopefully we can get a good result.”
Even with just a caretaker in charge it is likely that the Peterhead players will want to show what they can do but Craig is sure if he and his teammates stick to their game plan the Fifers can secure the three points:-
“If we play to the levels that we have set over the last few weeks, obviously not Saturday but previously, then there is no reason why we cannot get a win up there. If we play like we did and make mistakes like we did at the weekend, it will be a long afternoon for us.“
Dunfermline have the best defensive record in the league having lost only nine league goals but on goals scored they rank only seventh in the league. Can Craig and the team score more goals? That he felt had to be looked at in context:-
“To be honest if you look at chances created and chances that we have had in games, there have been games that we could probably have put to bed in the first half and we have not done that.
“Yes, we want to score more goals but at the same time that could maybe make us a bit more open and vulnerable at the back. I think we have a good base, we are quite solid without the ball, we are hard to break down a lot of the time. We have created a lot of chances, maybe that final pass or final decision I think we can definitely improve on.”
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