BY IAIN COLLIN – @CCP_sport
DEAN Cummings has confessed he only has himself to blame for blowing his dreams of full-time football with Livingston.
But the Edinburgh City striker insists he is desperate to prove he has now learned his lesson.
Cummings, older brother of Hibs striker Jason, came through the ranks at Livingston and made his first-team breakthrough in 2011 before going on to make a dozen top-team outings.
However, he fell out with the then management pair of John Collins and John Hughes and dropped out of the game altogether before going on to play with his ‘mates’ in the amateur ranks with Tynecastle and Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale over the last three years.
As he prepares to face his old club on their return to their former home of Meadowbank Stadium in the Betfred Cup tonight, the 23-year-old admits he is relishing the opportunity to prove himself all over again after joining SPFL newcomers City last month.
Cummings said: “I’m buzzing to play in this one, back in the competitive games and it would be good to get one over on Livi, my old team.
“I was there full-time after I left school but I was probably young and stupid and I fell out with John Collins and John Hughes – we just didn’t get on well.
“I chucked playing for about a year. Then, I just went back to enjoy it with my mates.
Older
“But I’m glad I’ve got a chance to get back into it now and play at a decent level.
“Looking back at it now I should have just stuck it out. This time around I’m a bit older so, getting another crack at the whip, I’m not going to muck it up this time round.”
After winning promotion to the SPFL via a play-off final triumph over East Stirlingshire, City are desperate to make their mark in League Two this season.
And Cummings hopes a decent League Cup campaign in a tough section that also includes Ayr United, Hamilton Accies and St Mirren can make people sit up and notice.
He added: “Meadowbank is a good stadium and the pitch is looking brilliant, and I think it could be a hard place to go to this season for teams.
“We’ll definitely be organised and I don’t think teams will look forward to it.
“Hopefully we can get a few good results against some of the bigger teams in the cup and lay down a marker for when the league games come around, because we don’t want to just be there to make up the numbers.”
@IainCollin
