Watson happy to be skipper’s decoy

Dun ferm l ine stopper Paul Watson insists he is happy to be no more than a decoy if it means captain Euan Murray keeps hitting the target.

Murray has scored four times in the Pars’ last three games – all assisted by Dom Thomas set-pieces.

It is a remarkable record Watson reckons will have opposition defences in a panic as they face up to the Fifers’ double-act.

But, although that could lead to chances for himself, the former Dundee United, Livingston and Falkirk player is adamant he will be content with a supporting role in the opposition box.

He said: “To be fair, I’m happy to be a decoy for Muz! He’s flying at the minute and hopefully that can continue.

“The quality of the ball that Dom Thomas puts in is unbelievable and I should have scored on Saturday – I missed a bit of a sitter.

“But it doesn’t matter who gets them, as long as they go in.

“We look a real threat from set-pieces, which is good, and hopefully that can continue.

“It’s going to have other teams overthinking it a bit when we do get corners. It can cause panic and hopefully we can keep scoring goals from set-pieces.

“It’s a big part of the game – for and against. It’s something we’ve worked on in training a lot. We need to take advantage of the good quality that Dom’s got at set-pieces.

“Thankfully the hard work has been paying off.”

Mu r r a y ’ s equaliser followed by late strikes from Ryan Dow and Declan McManus earned Dunfermline a 3-1 victory

over Inverness last weekend and racked up a fourth successive win.

Watson knows the Pars will not get it all their own way this afternoon away to Alloa, a team they failed to beat in four tries last season in the Championship.

But, with a truncated campaign because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 29- year- old insists it is vitally important the Fifers keep up their good start.

He added: “Saturday was massive for us to win, to give us the momentum going into the next few fixtures.

“It’s a cliche, but we’re all just focused on Alloa now.

“It’s not an easy game going there, so if we can take maximum points, we can just keep building and building.

“Ho w e v e r, we’r e not thinking too far ahead at the minute.

“It ’s a much shorter season so we know the start is important, otherwise you could be too far adrift with too much to make up.

“With winning that game on Saturday, it will give us a right confidence booster with the run of fixtures we’ve got.”

THE EQUALISER: Paul Watson, left, congratulates Euan Murray after his goal made it 1-1 against Inverness Caley.

Pars stopper Paul Watson “missed a bit of a sitter”.