Martin feels magic being back

Dunfermline defender Lewis Martin feared he would not a kick a ball at all this season.

So, while a 15-minute cameo in the penultimate match of the season may not sound like much, it was a magic moment for the 23-year-old.

Martin entered the fray in last weekend’s 1-0 defeat against Morton after Jackson Longridge was dismissed, finally defeating the persistent injury setbacks that have decimated his campaign.

He underwent surgery to cure a groin complaint last summer and, as he recovered from that procedure, saw his progress derailed by a mystery discomfort which proved to be a real pain in the back-side.

Martin explained: “I picked up another injury in January and no one knew what it was for a while. It was sort of just below the bum cheek – I’m still not sure what the muscle is called.”

Martin is likely to be pitched into the starting line-up against Inverness this afternoon – claiming his maiden start of the season on the final day.

He has hailed the work of physio John Porteous and fellow injury victim Sean Murdoch for driving him on the road to recovery.

He continued: “John (Porteous), who has been brilliant with me, finally figured out what the issue was and helped me from there.

“The thing that made it worse was there was no timeframe. If I had been told ‘this will be three or four weeks’ or whatever else, then you can knuckle down and you’ve got a target. When that isn’t there, it becomes really tough and uncertain.

“The more the weeks went on, I was still feeling it and has resigned myself to the fact I probably wouldn’t play this season.

“But I travel in with Sean Murdoch. He did a lot to help me through things. Sean has been out for a while and I think being with each other every day really helped us along.

“We were in the gym every day together and I think that was a big part in staying motivated.

“It was a great feeling to be back last week. It may have only been the last 15 minutes but it was a relief to be back on a football pitch again. I have been out all season so it’s hard to describe how frustrating that is.”

Given the clock has run down on Martin’s hopes of making a notable impact for the Pars this term, he has vowed to work tirelessly to ensure he makes up for lost time next season.

That will extend to hitting the treadmill when his girlfriend is soaking up the sun in the Caribbean.

He smiled: “I’ll just need to keep working and stay fit through the summer now. I’m going on holiday but I’ll still be training most days.

“I’m actually going to Barbados with my girlfriend’s family. It her mum’s 50th so they are flying us over – and I’ll be the one in the gym while they are all sun-bathing.”

Although determined to impress next season, there is no guarantee that the ex-Scotland under-19 international will still be at East End Park.

Martin is one of a swathe of Dunfermline stars who will find out their fate during a series of one-to-one meetings with head coach Stevie Crawford on Monday and Tuesday.

He added: “I’ve only trained the last two weeks so I’ve not had too much time to earn a new contract.

“But the gaffer knows me well and I will do everything I can to impress him on Saturday and we’ll see how things go from there.

“Once the game at Inverness is out of the way, it is something that will get spoken about.”

Picture: SNS. Lewis Martin’s torrid time with injury is finally over.