John Hughes concedes that he had no desire to see Vytas Gaspuitis leave Dunfermline.
The Lithuania internationalist departed the club by mutual consent this week following 11 months at East End Park.
The Pars’ club statement cited Gaspuitis’ desire to return to his homeland amid the difficulties of settling in Scotland during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hughes, meanwhile, revealed that the big centre-back — capped nine times for his country — was also cognisant of his international aspirations after slipping out of the starting line-up in Fife.
Gaspuitis’ departure, allied with on-loan centre-half Mark Connolly edging closer to a move to Dundalk, has left the Pars in the market for reinforcements beyond the recent arrival of Coll Donaldson.
“I never had a problem with big Vytas and if anybody phones me about him I will put my name to him,” explained Hughes.
“It just so happens that he felt, with not getting a game, it was going to harm his international career.
“You need to look after the players’ welfare as well. The mental mindset of players is massive now. When he wasn’t playing, you could see him dipping a little bit.
“The final conversation with Vytas was that he needed to be playing football on a regular basis for his international future. I could not guarantee him that so we did what was best for both parties.
“If we all conducted ourselves like Vytas then we would be in a better place. I have not got a bad word to say about the big guy.
“He wasn’t one that I wanted to leave but, because it came up, and because of the way it came up, it is one of the reasons why [Coll] Donaldson came in.”
Iain Wilson availability?
Meanwhile, Hughes addressed the ongoing absence of Iain Wilson, who has not featured since Dunfermline’s 4-2 defeat at Arbroath in October.
“He is just getting himself back on the training pitch but we have really got the reins on him,” added the Pars boss.
“Hopefully by next week he will be in full flight — but he has a bit of catching up to do.”
