Jamie Gullan welcomes the increased competition for places at Raith Rovers.
That applies to direct free kicks as well, with the likes of Aidan Connolly, Josh Mullin, Dylan Easton and Lewis Vaughan all capable.
Gullan was the designated taker for Tuesday night’s visit to Montrose for their second pre-season friendly of the summer.
He curled one into the top corner to open the scoring versus the Gable Endies, ensuring that he will be on them going forward, at least for the near future.
🔥 Another goal each for Gullan and Easton
✅ Lewis Vaughan on the scoresheet
📹 Watch the full highlights here: https://t.co/ywGdNa6FFD#YouBelong pic.twitter.com/zK7F6iSDSZ
— Raith Rovers Football Club (@RaithRovers) June 28, 2023
The 23-year-old also backs himself to take his side’s next penalty, despite missing one versus Linlithgow Rose – though he did score from the rebound.
Kept on his toes
“Competition for places is great around the club. It pushes everyone on, keeps them on their toes,” Gullan told Courier Sport.
“The attacking players welcome that. We want a team that is going to attack and score goals.
“We showed on Tuesday the link-up between everyone was brilliant.”
The likes of Jack Hamilton Aidan Connolly have yet to feature, meaning Gullan will be looking over his shoulder even though he has two goals from two in pre-season.
“We’ve got a lot of attacking options,” he added. “If we can get everyone on the same page, we’re going to be dangerous going forward.”
Déjà vu for Gullan
Gullan finds himself in a remarkably similar position to this time last season.
Last season was then curtailed due to a groin injury and he has since been working hard to regain fitness during the off-season.
The end of the 2022/23 campaign came at a bad time for the forward, as he stepped up his recovery ahead of the final game of the season.
A decision was taken not to risk the player and instead make sure he was ready after the summer.
“I trained before the Partick Thistle game on the Wednesday and Thursday – the game was Friday,” he added.
Under the knife
“It was touch and go whether to be on the bench or not and we decided to just leave it because it would be a risk to chuck me in for one game.
“I got an operation on my groin after it flared up three times last year. I went to see a specialist and he said I would need to get an operation.
“So that ended my season, kind of around February time, after the Motherwell game.
“It was hard to take after a stop-start season.
“I had the whole off-season to get fit and get strong again, it’s all worked out so far.”