Smith's Saintly Past

Smith hopes call up take two, can be an SPL success all over again

Chris Smith feels that he still needs a few more games under his belt before he could really prove what he can do for Dunfermline in the SPL. The keeper who returned in midweek is hoping that the last minute recall works the same wonders for him as it did at St Mirren when he was called in similar circumstances.

Chris was only 19 when first team keeper Craig Hinchcliffe was injured as St Mirren warmed up for the First Division match at home against Brechin City. He stepped in with a defence in front of him that included John Potter, Andy Millen and Kirk Broadfoot. The combination proved successful as Chris had a shut out and Saints won 1-0. Success continued with Chris continuing to make 28 appearances for the Buddies, winning the championship and then going on to make 22 SPL appearances the following season.

That all might seem like history for the 25 year old Pars keeper but as a keeper his career is young and he is desperately keen to impress. He said:-

"Results have not been great but getting games is good for me. We were hoping to put up a better fight than a 4-1. I had a couple of saves but if I didn't make saves I wouldn't be playing in goals. You need to keep yourself focussed on everything else in the game round about it. It is hard to speak to defenders when there is a big crowd."

Goals from David Healy, Lee McCulloch, Sone Aluko and Salim Kerkar gave Chris little chance and he put that down to the sheer class of the opposition:-

"Rangers have quality players like Steven Davis - boys like that who can change games. But when we are on our day we are a good side; until they got the goal we played well for the first twenty minutes. It was a very scrappy goal; just the kind of luck you need when you are playing in this league. Obviously Aluko's finish kills it off, it was a hell of a strike from the boy.

"Rangers weren't the champions last year for no reason; they have got strength on their side. People might be writing them off but they do that at their peril because they are a really good side. We realised that today especially when they got playmakers on the ball."

With Iain Turner struggling to recover from his back spasm Chris might well get the chance to win over the affections of Pars fans and with Terry Butcher's Inverness Caley as the next opponents he certainly has a point to prove:-

"We should not not be judged on these games rather than by the teams round about us. We need to concentrate on our own game, we should not be judged against Rangers."