Dunfermline Athletic captain Kyle Benedictus had played only 76 minutes of football since being forced to come off 20 minutes before the end of the match against Inverness Caley Thistle in September. A foot injury kept him out and then, when he tried to return, a thigh injury thwarted two comebacks firstly at Ayr and then against Raith. Third time back has thankfully proved more successful.
Kyle is delighted to have come through every minute of the Pars last four league games. Speaking ahead of Saturday’s home match against Partick Thistle the skipper said that he is feeling good.
“I have trained since the Thursday and Friday before the Raith game and I’ve been training and obviously played every game since. I feel fine and sometimes getting a bit more treatment from the physio, a couple of rubs that I’m not used to that he has been telling me that I need to get. I feel good that’s the main thing.”
The club captain’s return has provided a noticeable boost to the team especially since it was feared that his recurring but different injuries may have ended his season.
“My muscle was the first one but it went to my tendon in the same leg. That’s what the problem was and I had to see a specialist in London just to make sure. He said that he was confident I’d probably come back this season at some point. How many games I’d get he wouldn’t know but I managed to comeback three weeks less than I should have been. I probably should have been coming back about now. I am happy to get these extra games under my belt and try and see out the season for how many games that is.”
Kyle agreed that there was a degree of relief that he has come back without encountering any reaction:-
“A lot of players will tell you when you have been out for a long time, you don’t know what to expect when you go out there. It sometimes gets into your head, what if something else happens? I am not that type of individual, I just play the game as I see it. What will be will be, after these last four games that I’ve got through I feel good.”
In the early part of the season Kyle played in a back three that contained team mates like Sam Fisher, Rhys Breen and Ewan Otoo. Miles Welch-Hayes was beside him for the first three games back and Sam was back alongside Kyle last weekend but he has found himself with a new partner in Malachi Fagan-Walcott beside him. While sidelined with injury Kyle has watched the on-loan Cardiff City defender impress in games since making his Dunfermline debut on 27th January:-
“Malachi has been unbelievable. When I was injured and could see watching from the stands how good a player he is. Playing with him, he is very composed, really good in the air. He is very young and has a very good opportunity in the game. Going back to his first game. He travelled on the Friday night and needed to play on the Saturday at Tannadice. He didn’t know anybody but the whole team just weren’t at it. Since then Miles has come in as well and done very well. He has picked up that wee injury but he is back as well. We have a lot of boys to choose from. Sam Fisher is back as well, I’m back so there is a lot of options.
“When you see the squad now, even at 60 or 70 minutes to bring on boys. A couple of months ago we didn’t have that luxury. We were going with the same eleven boys and there wasn’t much to come off the bench. It’s nice to have a fit squad now and it is probably the best time in the season to have that.”
The fuller squad has coincided with Dunfermline’s first three wins in a row of this league season and Kyle pointed out that people would claim that it is the right time to be hitting form:-
“Obviously three wins in a row is very difficult to do in this league. Everybody who has played in this league before knows how hard it is to win three games on the trot. It is nice to do it but we need to go and try and make it four on Saturday. It’s a big game for us, as are all the games but in terms of where we are and where we could go.”
This Saturday’s opponents Partick Thistle have also recorded three wins in a row and Kyle predicted that could make it a good affair:-
“Partick are a great side and have always been there or thereabouts around the play-offs every season. We know how difficult it will be. The games we have played them this year have been tough, we will go and play our game and hopefully come out on top.” Dunfermline defeated Partick Thistle 3-0 when the teams last met at Firhill and although he sat that one out he remembered how big the three points were coming after a run of nine matches without a victory:-
“It was our first win and we have started to hit form from that point. Just like any game though, we are looking to get three points. At home that’s what we need to do, take the game to them and hopefully come out on top.
“When you look at the table every single team has got something to play for. We are in amongst it despite the injuries we have had to go through throughout the season. They have not been niggly injuries, they have been bad injuries. We have got everybody back. The squad seems to be very healthy – Wighty and Aaron were back running on Thursday – and it’s good to see everybody down at the training ground. It just shows how good a squad that we have got. The boys have trained well this week and now it’s on to Saturday.”
Kyle would prefer not to contemplate where Dunfermline might be had they had not encountered so many injuries this season but views the current position as an opportunity to make amends while still having to watch for teams closing the gap behind them:-
“Hindsight is a big thing, what could have happened if we had a fully fit squad for the whole season who knows? We can only go by where we are now and we have managed to get ourselves in a position where we are in amongst it and can push for these play-offs. The flip side of it is, you know what it’s like in this league – a couple of bad results and you are looking over your shoulder again.
“Even look at us, if we didn’t get these three victories in a row we could be there. You look at the positives but we are not sitting here thinking that we are home and hosed. Every team in that area of the table is doing the same thing. Thinking if they go on a run in the last five games, teams below us could be pushing for the play-offs. We are all pushing for that third or fourth place but also looking over our shoulder at the same time. It’s a big one on Saturday and we’ll just take it from there.”
The skipper warned however that the performance against Partick Thistle has to be better than the second half against Arbroath last Saturday:-
“Saturday got addressed after the game by myself and the rest of the players. We need to realise that Arbroath had nothing to lose. They were 3-0 down at home and going gung -ho. I just think the way they played second half getting the balls up meant we didn’t control the game as what we should have. We all know that and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen again. As a team we have watched it back, it wasn’t good enough all over the park and we have dissected what happened and hopefully it shouldn’t happen again.”
