Scotland under-21 striker Jordan Rhodes grew up watching his dad star at East End Park now he hopes his Dunfermline double caught the eye of Billy Stark to boost his international claims.
Rhodes made a happy homecoming to the Fife venue on Tuesday night, netting Huddersfield’s goals in their 2-1 victory over the SPL new boys.
The Oldham-born attacker is the son of popular former Pars, St Johnstone and Airdrie keeper Andy Rhodes and was schooled in Dunfermline for five years, making him eligible for the Scots.
Rhodes junior used to regularly sit in the stands at East End to witness his often-eccentric father in action and admitted it was a delight to follow in his footsteps and make a man-of-the-match performance on the same turf.
The forward, who netted 22 goals for Town in League One last term, finally earned a first under-21 cap against Belgium in March.
Now he wants more after scoring twice in front of under-21s boss Stark.
Rhodes (21) said, “It was pleasing to score a couple of goals, especially coming back to play at East End Park.
“I’ve been there many a time to watch my dad play.
“He rang me on Tuesday night to find out how I had done and he was chuffed to bits.
“He said, ‘Not many people have scored two goals at East End Park, certainly not in my time’.”Billy in the standsHe added, “I went to Cairneyhill Primary School in Dunfermline until primary five and then I made the move down to England. I’ve picked up the accent unfortunately.
“But I’ve spent a lot of time up in Dunfermline and still keep in touch with a few friends from Cairneyhill.
“The last game I think I remember coming to was Dunfermline against Airdrie in 1996.
“That was when Dunfermline won the first division title on the last day of the season.”
Rhodes said, “My dad was playing for Airdrie by then and conceded a penalty that day unfortunately. I remember watching the highlights on TV later on.
“I’ve witnessed good highs for Dunfermline and it was good to be back on Tuesday.”
Scotland’s under-21s face a tough European Championship qualifying campaign, with Holland, Austria and Bulgaria all in their group.
And Rhodes hopes to continue his good form and stay involved.
He said, “I think I saw Billy in the stands on Tuesday.
“I’m happy that I managed to play some good minutes pre-season while I’m up here and he can watch.”Enjoying under-21sHe added, “I’ve got to keep pushing hard and working hard to make sure I keep my place in the 21s for the upcoming campaign.
“I’ve loved every minute of being in the under-21 squad everyone has made me feel really welcome.”
Meanwhile, Dunfermline midfielder Nick Phinn missed the Huddersfield clash the last pre-season friendly with a slight hamstring strain, but should be fit for Monday night’s SPL opener against St Mirren.
Phinn has already started jogging again and will hopefully return to full training by the end of the week.
Manager Jim McIntyre has no other injury doubts.
He said, “We’ve been really, really fortunate in pre-season.
“Staying injury-free is pretty much all you can ask.”
The Pars’ usual training routine has been altered and the players will be off on Friday and back at Pitreavie on Saturday and Sunday.
McIntyre said, “I’ll go and watch a game on Saturday and maybe even a game on Sunday.
“That’s the beauty of the SPL you can almost go to a match every day of the week.”