JOSH IS UP TO HIS OLD TRICKS
Promotion specialist eyes more title joy at Somerset
PROMOTION specialist Josh Mullin insists Ayr have all the ingredients to claim the title.
The Livingston wideman’s loan at Somerset continues to prove a perfect match after his double secured a win over Raith which maintained a one-point lead at the summit ahead of Dundee.
A career which includes climbing a division with Albion Rovers, Ross County and twice with the Lions has Mullin down as a lucky mascot for the Honest Men and the 30-year-old believes Lee Bullen’s underdogs can continue to defy the doubters.
He said: “Can we win promotion? I don’t see why not. I have a few promotions and it is something that the manager has said I know about.
“I told the boys this league is up and down but if we can be in and around it at Christmas then it will give us something to build on in the second half of the season.
“You will see gaps opening up and teams will fall away. We are still top right now and that’s all that matters.
“Partick would have been a lot of people’s favourites at the start of the season and we are eight points ahead of them right now which is great.
“But we will go about our business and they are our next league game and we will make sure we are ready for them. We are underdogs and know that can be a good thing.
“I had it at Livingston when we went up through the playoffs, being the underdog you have no pressure. But we are putting demands on ourselves to keep up the standards we have set. If we keep doing that then we will be fine.”
It’s now seven league games without defeat for Bullen’s side and this latest success was a trademark example of being both dogged and clinical when it mattered despite a slow burner of a performance against the Fifers who had been the dominant side for the majority of the first half.
Mullin’s first intervention was to slide home a cross from Logan Chalmers just after the half-hour mark and he sealed his brace with a superb header 20 minutes from time after Dipo Akinyemi’s delivery.
Mullin added: “It is nice to come away with a clean sheet and 2-0 win. “We dealt with the problems Raith caused us and after about 25 minutes we took control and we got the opener.
“We got the second one and it was a professional job.
“For my second I am sure I heard someone shout ‘Drogba’ when it hit the net.
“No seriously, it was a great ball from Dipo and he stood it up brilliantly for me and I could see where I wanted to put it. It was nice to score again.”
Mullin will discover next month if his spell at Somerset will be extended.
He said: “I’m out of contract next summer at Livingston and I don’t know if they will recall me next month.
“I am an Ayr player and I am loving it right now but if Livingston call me back that’s fine.”