Friday 4th August 2017
DUMBARTON’S youth development initiative may, sadly, not be operating this season.
But there is still one way in which the products of the young teams could yet bear fruit.
Kyle Prior is in his fourth season with the club, having joined as a 15-year-old. He’s just had his longest outing with the first team to date.
And he hopes it won’t be the last experience he gets with Stevie Aitken’s squad, with the central midfielder aiming to be a key part of things.
He told www.dumbartonfootballclub.com: “Playing 83 minutes of the Betfred Cup tie against Ayr was a good experience.
“I thought I played well. I’ve obviously not played much football since January so I just need to get back into it, and hopefully get more time to show what I can do.
“I would like to impress the gaffer and get more minutes on the pitch, and push on from there.
“It is a big deal for me to play first-team football for the club in the town I live in. It’s an honour and a really great experience.
“It’s obviously not nice to see what happened with the youth development teams. A couple of guys who I played alongside, and had been with Dumbarton for a long time, had to leave.
“But I am just focusing on myself and getting a chance in the first team this season.”
For Kyle, it has been just like starting over with the first team this season, with many new faces in the squad.
But he is not put off by that, and has his sights set high for both himself and the team as a new campaign dawns.
He added: “There have been a lot of new players coming in this close season and we’ve had to learn how each other operates.
“But we are gelling well, and they are all good guys. I am confident everybody can help us push up the table.
“My goal for myself is to get more minutes on the pitch, including some starts, and try and force my way into the team.
“As a team, we hope we can push up the table. We don’t want to drag ourselves into a relegation battle. We’ve got a really good team and feel we can do well.”
Andy Galloway