BY IAIN COLLIN – @CCP_sport
Nathan Austin has set his sights on shooting East Fife to promotion before turning his attentions to the dream possibility of top-flight football with Falkirk next season.
The 21-year-old has joined Falkirk on a two-and-a-half-year deal after attracting interest from the likes of Aberdeen, Motherwell and Dundee with impressive displays at East Fife.
The athletic striker will spend the rest of the campaign with the League Two club on loan and has revealed he is desperate to leave them with the parting gift of a place back in League One.
And, in the meantime, his new Bairns team-mates are keeping themselves in the hunt for promotion to the Premiership after Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Hibernian.
Austin said: “I’m delighted to have signed for Falkirk.
“The gaffer at East Fife mentioned it a few weeks ago, that Falkirk were interested, but I just kept it at the back of my mind and kept trying to play.
“And then I got the call saying there had been a bid and I was just delighted.
“I’m due them something at East Fife. It’s my local club and that’s where I started.
“Hopefully I can help them get promotion this season and impress the manager here for next season.
“And Falkirk could maybe be playing in the Premiership next season, you never know!”
A goal in East Fife’s 4-2 win away to Annan Athletic at the weekend took Austin’s season’s tally to 17 in just 26 appearances.
However, Falkirk manager Peter Houston has revealed it was despite not scoring in the Methil side’s 3-1 defeat to the Bairns in the Petrofac Training Cup back in July that the young marksman caught the eye.
Austin added on Falkirk TV: “Sometimes it’s just about luck. You might have one game where someone comes to watch you and you score a hat-trick, and sometimes someone might be watching you and you score none.
“Lucky for me I’ve impressed him in that game and I’ve done well throughout the season so far.”
