Allan Johnston: I’m sure other teams are looking at our players
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It would probably be fair to say that Dunfermline are making more headlines than most in Ladbrokes League 1 this season.
But despite the Pars’ exploits, boss Allan Johnston isn’t worried about his players attracting attention from elsewhere.
Goals have been flying in this season for the boys from East End Park, with Joe Cardle and Faissal El-Bakhtaoui grabbing the headlines with a glut of strikes each.
Throw in a couple of thrilling cup contests against Ladbrokes Premiership opposition and the entire team has been making headlines for the right reasons this term.
Johnston seems to be relishing it all however, and isn’t too worried about his young squad catching the eye of a visiting scout or two.
Speaking to Ladbrokes News, Johnston said: “I’m sure there’ll be loads of clubs looking at our players, given the way they’ve played this year. Especially when you play against Dundee and we beat them here (at East End Park).”
We played against Dundee United and we ended up going to extra time but it was another really, really good performance. The players have proved that they can play against top quality teams and compete at that level,” the 41-year-old added.
El-Bakhtaoui is just one of 11 players aged 25 or under to have made more than one appearance for Dunfermline this season, and Johnston sees that as only a positive thing.
“We’ve got a young squad, Faissal isn’t the only one. We’ve got a lot of good young players and they’re all desperate to well for us and do well for themselves and their careers so that can only help us in the long run. “
These are exciting times for Johnston at East End Park, and the former Kilmarnock boss is relishing the challenge of the increased expectation at the club.
“We’ve started the season really well, we’ve had the occasional blip, obviously it was a blow getting beat off St Mirren in the cup. But that probably just shows you the expectation and how well we’ve been playing that people are expecting us to go to places like St Mirren and win.”
The Pars could have been backed at up to 6/1 over the summer, but are now heavy favourites at 1/4 to win the Ladbrokes League 1 title this season.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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