Matty Todd insists a crucial goal that helped Dunfermline to a long-awaited win was just reward for all his personal anguish this season.
And he believes he has returned to action a ‘better player and man’ following another frustrating lay-off.
The 22-year-old chipped in a sublime finish to give the Pars a 2-1 lead over Partick Thistle on Friday night as they eventually sealed a badly-needed 3-1 triumph.
It was a first victory in ten games and the first since December 9 as the mounting pressure eased on manager James McPake.
For all their recent travails and the growing anger in a frustrated support, the East End Park side now sit sixth in the Championship table.
Malachi Fagan-Walcott’s second goal in two games in the 37th minute was important as it cancelled out Brian Graham’s opener just seven minutes earlier.
But the way Todd tamed a long Josh Edwards pass with his back to goal before swivelling and surging clear of last man Aaron Muirhead to score was another reminder of the qualities the Pars have been missing in his absence.
He said: “The gaffer is always on to me about forward runs and running in behind Chris Kane at the moment.
“Kano [Kane] loves the ball coming to feet and it’s the part of the game that I’m good at, running beyond strikers and in behind defences.
‘Real maturity’
“Josh had the ball and he played the perfect pass, to be fair. I just had the composure to dink it over the keeper.
“I saw the keeper coming a wee bit off his line and the opportunity opened up. The first thing I thought was get that dink direct and it’s a goal.
“Getting into the box is another strong point of my game and adding goals all the time is what I want to do.
“It has been a tough couple of months again but I’ve come back from that and shown real maturity throughout that period. I have come back a better player, and a better man as well.”
After an appendix operation and surgery on his nose earlier in the year, Todd went under the knife for an agonising third time after sustaining ankle ligament damage in July.
Having returned to action in November, Todd managed seven appearances before then being struck down with a serious hamstring issue.
And, forced to endure four separate lay-offs over the course of the last 10 months, the midfielder has confessed he has been tested psychologically as well as physically.
He added: “It has been a mental challenge, for sure.
“Wee Kane [Ritchie-Hosler] has had three operations, Kyle Benedictus has definitely gone through a mental challenge and there are other boys in the squad I could name.
“It is definitely a mental challenge when you are coming into training every day and doing the same thing.
‘All the hard work’
“At the end of the day, it all comes back to getting rewarded like Friday night.
“All the hard work that I put in since the end of December has made it all worth it.”
Dunfermline now have the chance to ease their relegation worries further when they face second-bottom Inverness Caley Thistle on Tuesday night with just two points separating them in the table.
Todd, praised by manager James McPake, said: “We have now picked up that victory and we want to kick on again on Tuesday night.
“We want to eep that going until the end of the season to see where we can go.”
