The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Craigen confident Pars can take the honours in TV clash
James Craigen hopes Dunfermline can come through tonight’s test with flying colours as he prepares to face Partick Thistle for the first time since they plucked him from university and handed him a far-fromtextbook route into top-flight football.
Craigen was a student when he played against Thistle for the Scottish Universities team and was subsequently offered a deal after helping to hand the Jags a lesson in a 7-2 win.
A little over 12 months later, having just finished studying for his sport management degree, the midfielder completed his meteoric rise from the East of Scotland league to the Premiership following Thistle’s promotion.
Now at Dunfermline, via spells with Raith Rovers and Falkirk after being released by Partick in 2015, tonight’s televised encounter at East End Park will be the first time the 27-year-old has faced the club responsible for sparking his full-time career to life.
He said: “I had three great years at Partick and loved it.
“They’ve got the same manager (Alan Archibald) and a couple of the same players as well, so I know them quite well.
“Partick signed me straight from Edinburgh Uni, and gave me my chance in the professional game, so I owe the club a lot.
“I still remember going in there from university and thinking to myself ‘what’s going on here?’.
“But it was great. We got promoted in our first year as well, and then spent two years in the Premier, which you couldn’t really write, to be honest.
“There is quite a few untapped players playing in student football, but you don’t really see it happen that often.”
Dunfermline host Thistle still looking for their first league win since the opening weekend of the campaign.
They thought they had it last weekend, until keeper Lee Robinson’s error handed Morton a 1-1 draw, but Craigen is convinced the Pars are on the up again after beginning the season with four straight wins in the Betfred Cup.
He added: “We were disappointed on Saturday. I think we deserved the three points, it was a good performance from the team.
“But we move on and focus on this game. We’re under no illusions, it’s going to be a tough game, but we need to turn the draws into wins.
“We’re not panicking, or anything like that, but we know how important three points or a couple of wins can be.”
Dunfermline could welcome back full-back Ryan Williamson after an injury picked up on Scotland under-21 duty and are likely to stick with the changes that saw goal scorer Andy Ryan, Aidan Connolly and Malaury Martin drafted in at Cappielow.