Sam Fisher considers the home win over Annan Athletic on Tuesday night has set it up nicely for Saturday’s home match against Kilmarnock in the Viaplay Cup. He was adamant that they have nothing to fear:-
“They’re a Premiership team, they’ll come and they’ll fancy their chances, but so do we. We’re high on confidence just now. We’ve started off really well, even in pre-season, we’ve picked up really good results against good teams, like Hearts. Yeah, it was a pre-season run out, but you don’t want to lose those games, and we’ve put in good performances. We’ve started off well and we’ll look to continue that.”
Performances have boosted confidence and momentum is everything in the game. The Pars have not lost a competitive home match since May 2022 and Sam wants to keep the unbeaten streak going after a draw at Raith and a 4-0 win over Annan Athletic. Sam continued:-
“We were really happy to get a clean sheet, that’s our first one. We said that at half-time, when we were in a comfortable enough lead, we said a clean sheet will win the game. I’ve said it quite a few times, but we’re really happy to continue this streak.”
Sam acknowledges that Saturday’s opponents will be a completely different challenge but he is relishing coming up against Derek McInnes’ Kilmarnock team:-
“You’ve seen the Premiership teams that have come here – if it’s Hearts, St Johnstone – we’ve put in really good performances against them. We’re going to go into it with confidence, we’re saying that in there. We’ve got nothing to fear. They’ll come with confidence, and rightly so, they’re a Premiership side, but we’ll go in with confidence too.”
Saturday’s match could have a big influence on who progresses out of Group F and while agreeing that Dunfermline have had a really good start but they are still taking it game by game:-
“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves. There’s still two really hard games to come. You’ve got Albion Rovers away, which isn’t an easy place to go. I’ve played there and it’s really tough. Obviously, they lost at Raith, I heard it was a late goal, so we won’t take them lightly, definitely not. We’ve still got a game before then. We’re focused on Kilmarnock as of right now.”
Sam was keen to focus on the team but the opening goal against Annan was his first goal for Dunfermline. He had a false start when it came to scoring goals for Dunfermline but he was sure that there was no doubt that the goal against Annan was his:-
“It’s definitely mine this time! A few of the boys were trying to think back to the Edinburgh goal, where I celebrated like it was mine, I was still claiming it – even though it didn’t touch off me last. Now I’m really happy to get off the mark with my first goal, but more happy with the win to be honest, and the clean sheet.
“We work hard on set plays to be fair. Luckily, it got through a few bodies, and it landed at my left foot. Usually I don’t really fancy myself on my left foot if it comes to me in front of the goal but, luckily, I got a good enough connection on it, and I was delighted to see it go in the back of the net.”
Sam confirmed that the team was really happy with the outcome. They would have liked a win against Raith, but the point from the penalty shoot-out might yet prove crucial:-
“It’s an extra point, so we came into the Annan game with confidence, and we felt like if we wanted to progress, we need to win these kind of games.”
Annan showed Dunfermline a lot of respect, they sat in, and it was up to the home side to try and break them down. Sam thought the team did that really well on Tuesday night:-
“It was a sticky surface out there. You saw how sunny it was at the start of the game, so it was really sticky, and it was tough to get the ball moving, but, again, I thought the boys dealt with that really well. It was good to get a 4-0 win. Goal differences can be massive for you, so we’re delighted with tonight.”
Sam arrived at Dunfermline on loan in July last year but returned to Dundee, his home club, in late January after making 17 appearances for the Fifers. He has always felt an affinity for the Pars, he has kept up with the Dunfermline players and after signing a three year deal at the KDM he confesses:-
“I feel like I’ve never been away. I said that when I signed here I was still coming to every event I could, if it was a golf day, a night out, even going away on holiday with the boys for a week. I managed to get there, so I’ve not felt away from the group. Coming back, I wasn’t any stranger, so I’ve settled in really well again, and I’m loving it.”
The 21 year old knows that he is in a good place and he feels he will be more than ready by the time league kicks off in August:-
“I spoke with the manager a few weeks ago, and I think this is the fittest I’ve ever come back. I feel in really good shape. I picked up, if you can even call it a minor knock, against St Johnstone, but I’ve felt really sharp, felt really good, and I’ll only get fitter.”
