Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Unconventional to be refreshing
HE may not have followed a conventional route into the Dundee first team but new boy Ollie Crankshaw hopes he is exactly what the club are looking for.
Crankshaw joined the Dark Blues on loan from Wigan Athletic last Thursday, making his debut as a sub the next evening as they went down 2-0 at Dunfermline.
Although it was a dismal night for the Dee, the 21-year-old wide man was able to show what he is all about in 36 minutes of action.
Full of verve, playing on the right, he got to the byline on numerous occasions and displayed a dynamism severely l acking i n Dundee’s overall performance.
It was a positive introduction to the game up here and one the young Englishman was happy with after winning his move north.
“It was nice to make my debut on Friday but, obviously, it wasn’t the result we wanted,” he said.
“It’s not what we’d been focusing on. All week we’d been really positive so we need to go back and build on that for the next game.
“I think I showed them my game – bit of pace, drop the shoulder and get a ball into the box.
“Cutting in and having a shot as well, that’s the type of player I am.
“I’d been playing with the U/23s at Wigan, Dundee came down to watch me in the Liverpool game a couple of weeks back.
“I done well, we won the game and that’s where the interest came from. I’m really happy to be here.
“I don’t know much about Scotland or the league but I know it’s a really competitive division.
“Hopefully, I can make an impact by getting a few goals and assists.”
Although not clued up on the Scottish game, Crankshaw is no stranger to the blood and thunder approach having cut his teeth in non-league football after being released by home town club Preston North End and then Morecambe.
His route to Dens Park has taken in such footballing-hotbeds as Ramsbottom United, Clitheroe, Colne and Curzon Ashton but Crankshaw believes that has made him the character he is today.
“My pathway has been different to a lot of other players but I think it shows that I’m hard-working, dedicated and just want to play football really,” he added.
“Most people come through the youth ranks but I’ve went my way and it’s a little bit different.
“Hopefully, I can get where I want to be and have a career in the game.
“I’ve seen the worst of it but I think that builds you and carves your career.
“It builds you as a player to not take anything for granted.
“You can drop out of the game but, if you work hard, you can make it back.”
Given their toils of late in the