Thursday 25th March 2021
LIKE every other footballer, Nick McAllister was anxious to return to the pitch on Tuesday evening.
He just didn’t expect it to be away from his usual position.
The on-loan St Mirren defender impressed during his 73 minutes on the pitch for Dumbarton in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Huntly – but feels there is more to come.
And he hopes he’ll be able to prove that he can go back to Paisley and challenge for a first team place against Premiership opposition week in, week out.
With top-flight Aberdeen lying in wait in round three of the Scottish Cup for Sons, Nick is targeting that game, but isn’t losing sight of what else is ahead.
Speaking to www.dumbartonfootballclub.com, he said: “It’s brilliant to come to Dumbarton. It was quite a long injury I had so to get back to playing football again was the main goal.
“So when I heard that Dumbarton were coming for me it was a no-brainer for me to agree to the move.
“It was a good game on Tuesday – good to get a run-out in the cup and the team played well. The gaffer asked for goals and they gave him goals.
“I thought I could have done better but I haven’t played a game in a long time. Left back isn’t my usual position – I’m more of a centre half or right back.
“We now have the reward of playing Aberdeen in round three and we’re absolutely buzzing for that. I’ll be trying to get myself in the squad, keeping my head down and working hard. Those are the games everybody wants to play in.
“One hundred per cent I’ll be looking to prove that I can play against Premiership opposition. I’m looking to show what I can do and Dumbarton is the perfect place to do it. They’ve got big games there and in the league.”
After contributing to a clean sheet, Nick may have earned another outing when Sons are at home to Peterhead on Saturday.
With Forfar having taken all three points from Dumbarton last Saturday, there is some making up to do, and Nick very much hopes they can do it at the start of a demanding run.
He added: “Last Saturday I think all we really needed was to add goals to how we were playing, so hopefully the other night was a bit of a boost and we’ll see how it goes against Peterhead.
“I’m definitely up for the schedule we’ve got to come – that’s why I’m here. It’s going to be a hard one on the body but it’s the same for everybody. I’ll maybe play in more than one position during the run of games.”
Andy Galloway