Pars loan for Palace attacker

Dunfermline have completed the loan signing of Crystal Palace’s former Dundee United youth Scott Banks.

The 19-year-old winger has been a standout for the English Premier League outfit’s U23s in recent times, impressing senior boss Roy Hodgson.

Banks swapped Tannadice for Selhurst Park in January last year before returning north to Alloa on loan for the remainder of the season.

And the Scotland U19 cap – who had a spell at Clyde in 2019 – will now get more valuable first-team experience in the Championship with Stevie Crawford’s Pars.

Crawford said: “We are delighted to bring in another attacking option to the team.

“Myself and Greg (Shields, No 2) watched Annan Athletic play Clyde in the play final game in May 2019.

“Scott caught the eye then and we have monitored his situation since then.

“We were interested when he was at Dundee United but for one reason or another it didn’t come to fruition that we could get him in on loan.

“Maybe it was because they were in the same division at the time but since then he has moved on to Crystal Palace.

“We have kept tabs on him and we just feel that he is going to be an exciting addition to add quality to that final third.”

In October, former England gaffer Hodgson said Banks was knocking on the Palace first-team door.

He told the South London Press: “If he continues doing as well as he has been for the U23s there’s no reason why that shouldn’t happen.

“I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. He’s a talented player, there’s no question of that.

“But at the moment our squad is looking quite big, so he’s going to have to produce the performances first and then we’ll see where that takes him.”

Pars signing Scott Banks during his United days.