A BIT OF LEE WAY
Ashcroft eyes derby booster
Lee Ashcroft doesn’t have a clue how his life would’ve panned out if he had not received a lifechanging call from Kilmarnock.
As a teenager the Dundee stopper had left school and was happy playing football with his mates at Hillwood Boys Club.
So he was stunned to be asked to come in for pre-season training at Rugby Park by Killie youth coach Alan Robertson.
That eventually led to a contract, with Ashcroft spending five years at Killie before joining Dunfermline. After leaving the Pars last summer, the big central defender was snapped up by Dens boss James McPake.
Now Ashcroft is looking forward to his first taste of the Dundee derby experience in front of a capacity crowd at Tannadice.
However, the 28-year- old admits he doesn’t know what he’d be doing for a job if it hadn’t been for that fateful phone call.
Ashcroft said: “I was with Hillwood in Pollok until I was 16. I’d played in the Youth Cup final when we got beat 4-3 by Edinburgh City.
“It was some game but I must have done something right!
“I got a phone call from Kilmarnock after that game asking if I would come in for pre-season.
“I had a two-week trial then signed ful l- time straight from there. I had not long left school and I was at college down in
Ayr. It was a sports course and, to be honest, I don’t know what I’d be doing right now if I wasn’t in football. “The call came at the right time. I was lucky enough to go straight into it full-time and I’ve been there ever since.
“If I was to give advice to young boys I would say: ‘Look at myself – it’s never too late if you keep working hard.’ You need a bit of luck, to be in the right place at the right time – that’s how it worked for me.” Ashcroft is now one of the first names on the Dundee team-sheet and was a key player as the Dark Blues secured promotion through the play-offs last season. McPake’s men are still searching for their first Premiership win after five games and Ashcroft admits the derby would be the perfect time to break that duck. He said: “It will be tough but it will be great to have the fans back again.
“We a re look ing forward to the match so hopefully we can put in a good display.
And a win would be massive.
“A derby victory can give you all the conf idence in the wor l d . So hopefully we can g ive us something to build on – but we will have to be at out best if we are to manage that.”