BY ALAN TEMPLE – @CCP_Sport
DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC boss Allan Johnston has heaped praise on Callum Fordyce despite the Pars skipper’s costly error against Hibernian.
The 24-year-old’s fresh-air swipe allowed Martin Boyle’s low cross to find its way to Jason Cummings on Saturday, with the Scotland under-21 star making no mistake from point-blank range.
That condemned the Fifers to a 2-1 defeat from an engaging contest and marred an otherwise composed display from the former Livingston defender.
And Johnston believes Fordyce deserves plaudits, rather than criticism, after completing his first 90 minutes since suffering a broken leg and dislocated ankle in September 2015.
He lauded: “Callum was brilliant, I thought he was excellent. It was his first game in a long time – we were forced into that due to a suspension to Lee Ashcroft – and he did really well.
“These things can happen, it was a bad bounce for the goal and you just need to move on from that. You can’t let it affect you.
“He is obviously disappointed but, when you have been out for that length of time, you need to consider his overall performance, which was different class. It was like he had never been away.
“It was a massive test for him and one which he came through.”
Dunfermline will be out to bounce back from their narrow defeat at Easter Road when they travel to face league leaders Raith Rovers on Saturday in a mouth-watering Fife derby.
And Johnston is adamant the same level of performance should be enough for them to underline their own promotion credentials.
He continued: “Taking the positives from Saturday – the way we played, the way we passed the ball and the fact we never sat back. At lot of teams would go to Hibs and park the bus.
“They are the favourites to win the league so we put in a great performance against one of the top teams. If we do that every week then we won’t be far away from the top of the table.”
