Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dunfermline ace Dan Pybus felt like he had been ‘hit on the head with a hammer’

Stoic: Pybus
Stoic: Pybus

A glance at the Championship table is enough to make any Dunfermline supporter feel queasy.

However, Dan Pybus’ last outing at East End Park took nausea to a new extreme.

The combative midfielder was sick several times on the pitch during the Pars’ 2-2 draw against Kilmarnock as he fought a chest infection.

He was ultimately replaced on the hour-mark but must be commended for an all-action showing.

And Pybus has lifted the lid on ‘a nightmare’ situation, revealing that he felt like he had been ‘hit on the head with a hammer’ in the days prior to the fixture.

“I was sick four or five times in the first half,” said Pybus. “I couldn’t stop being sick — it was a nightmare.

Pybus in action

“I had a chest infection. I was just coughing non-stop. I was hot then cold, then had a really sore head.

“But I hadn’t been sick until Saturday so that was a bit of a strange one!

“In the days before the game, I texted the physio at 4.10 a.m. on Thursday saying, ‘I won’t be able to make training’.

“I felt like I had been hit on the head with a hammer. I ended up getting up and having a cup of tea in the middle of the night to try and get some sugar into me. I couldn’t sleep and felt horrendous.

“I missed training on Thursday and then I tried to go in on Friday but I struggled.”

Pybus adds, rather understandably: “It was touch and go whether I even turned up for the game last weekend.

“But, me being the person I am, I said ‘I can’t miss that’.”

Luck WILL turn

Pybus’ gutsy attitude mirrored the performance of the team.

The Pars twice fought back from behind against Tommy Wright’s title-favourites, culminating in Aaron Comrie’s 95th-minute leveller.

And while Dunfermline remain winless at the foot of the Championship, the former Queen of the South man is determined to accentuate the positives.

The Fifers have only lost once in their last five outings, albeit four of those were draws.

“In those five games, we’ve played teams that could be seen as the top-four — Inverness, Hamilton, Raith away and Kilmarnock,” added Pybus.

“Four very good sides and we haven’t been beaten by them. There are plenty of positives to take.

“The luck will turn and, when it does, I think we’ll go on a run and get up that table to where we should be.”

Firhill for thrills

Dunfermline’s latest attempt to put a win on the board comes against Partick Thistle, the top scorers in the Championship with 23 goals.

But Pybus is now cowed by the prospect of a visit to Firhill.

“We have lost the same number of games as Partick Thistle have,” Pybus added.

“The difference is we’ve not been scoring as many goals, and conceding some terrible ones.

“People will say Partick Thistle are flying — they’re doing really well — but we’ve just not won the games we should have.”

Rhys Breen opens up on Covid woes as Dunfermline defender sends warning to old Rangers pal Zak Rudden