Moffat has good feeling about Dunfermline

JJ:- "Michael was always a priority for us and so I am delighted that he has committed himself to the club. I think it will help everybody at the club.

Michael Moffat is no stranger to Pars fans having played against us no fewer than five times last season. Speaking exclusively to this website Michael reflected on his move:-

"It was one of those seasons where you get a team in the league and in the cup. We drew as well and there was a replay. You seemed to do well against us every time you played us!"

The 29 year old was the top goalscorer in League One last season with 26 league goals. He joined Ayr after four seasons playing junior with Girvan and knows how hard that step up proves to be:-

"You don't see too many making the step up from junior to senior football. Ayr had two in last season but they have been released back out to the juniors. There are players there that clubs can take a wee bit of a chance on and maybe get a bit of luck on them. That is what happened to me. I seemed to score a lot of goals early on and got settled in quite quickly."

Michael was happy to follow the examples of Kris Doolan from Auchinleck Talbot and Chris Erskine from Kilbirnie Ladeside who left juniors to break through in senior football at Partick Thistle. His deal is with Dunfermline for two years and it is the first time that he will have been full time.

"I am looking forward to it. Obviously playing football and training every day can only make you a better player so it is something that I have always wanted to do and I am delighted that I have the chance to do it now."

After scoring prolifically last season Michael knows that is the main reason Jim Jefferies was keen to add him to his squad:-

"I got 27 last season and hopefully I can get something similar next season. I want to do well and I am sure that Dunfermline have a great chance of going and getting promotion next season, that needs to be the aim."

The Pars new boy felt that the Fife club thoroughly deserved their second place finish last season:-

"They were quite comfortably there towards the end of the season. If Rangers hadn't been in the league then I think they would have won the league. Hopefully they can get a good points tally next season and go and win the league. Obviously Morton will be there and they will be full time as well but with the pool of players that Dunfermline has got they should be aiming to win the league."

Jim Jefferies is pleased to sign Michael Moffat and he revealed that he is a player that he has been tracking ever since Billy Brown whilst manager at East Fife alerted him.

"When we played against us he proved it. I know that we did well against Ayr United but Michael was always a constant problem.

"Andy Goram has told me that Ayr were desperate to keep him. Kevin Kyle was also full of praise for him, so we went and pursued our interest. There are a number of clubs who have been after him so we are just delighted to sign him.

"After the disappointment of the last game everybody is looking for a lift. I have already started the process with the players that we have lost either going back to their club or out of contract. We have been working hard and not leaving it to the last minute so we have signed Michael.

"Michael was always a priority for us and so I am delighted that he has committed himself to the club. I think it will help everybody at the club. We all know how important it is to bounce back next year; the young players will be that wee bit wiser, our experienced players will gain from it and get a lift when we have people who can create chances.

"We lost key strikers last year and went into the last game without four who had scored a number of goals between them. Two have gone back to their clubs and we hope that Ryan Wallace comes back fully fit following his operation. Faiss burst on to the scene and Allan Smith hopefully will be a bit fresher, after all his illnesses and injuries.

"To add somebody like Michael to that lifts the club. He has been a bit of a late developer and burst on to the scene during three great years at Ayr United. They will be disappointed that he has moved on but that's football and he wanted a crack at full time football. We have given him that opportunity and we will be pleased that if he scores as many goals as he did for Ayr then we have signed a good one."

That attribute of always being in the right place at the right time and hitting the net with regularity is no doubt what Dunfermline saw in Michael Moffat but he revealed that the chance to play under Jim Jefferies, Neil McCann and John Potter greatly influenced his desire to sign full time at Dunfermline, he added:-

"They made me feel really wanted, they wanted me to come and were desperate to get me. I had a good feeling about it after I had a look around the training ground and they told me their plans and ambitions. It was just something that I wanted to be part of so it was great to go and meet them and to feel so wanted. I am just glad to get it all signed up."