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.

James McPake gives further details of injury to Dunfermline star Paul Allan

Dunfermline manager James McPake.
Pars boss James McPake. Image: SNS.

James McPake has been able to offer advice to Paul Allan given his own previous injuries.

The Dunfermline Athletic midfielder has been missing since August with a foot injury.

He appeared to be on the way back a few weeks ago but after a setback, and some discussion about the best way to recover, it was decided he would have surgery.

Pars assistant manager Dave Mackay revealed this week that Allan had gone under the knife and is expected to return to training in around six weeks.

McPake said the midfielder broke down during his recovery and the club wasn’t happy with the diagnosis.

Player’s call

After discussions involving the player, his family, club staff and the surgeon, it was decided an operation was the best solution.

Paul Allan, right, pictured with Kevin O’Hara, was involved early in the season. Photograph: Craig Brown.

The final decision always rested with Allan.

“We gave Paul the decision,” said the Dunfermline manager.

“I gave him my opinion, the medical staff gave him their opinion. I think we’re now in agreement surgery is the best thing for it.

“It’s the outside of his foot – I don’t know too much about the metatarsals.

“They’ll put a pin or a screw in.”

McPake’s advice

McPake added that the benefit of this recovery is that once the procedure is complete you have a firm timeline for when you should be back on the pitch.

“To be fair, after that you’re six to eight weeks,” said McPake.

“We’re looking at, if he rests it now, rest it for three weeks and then gradually bring yourself back in – and what happens if you develop another setback?

“You’re already three or four weeks down the line, anyway.”

The incident where James McPake suffered a serious knee injury.

The Pars boss suffered a terrible injury to his knee in his playing days with Dundee, something he was still recovering from when he took the job at East End Park.

He said: “My view was: ‘Go get it done.’ Then you know you’ve got six to eight weeks and you’re back playing and your foot is stronger.

“That’s where I think the injuries I’ve had help… but it had to be Paul’s call and Paul’s decision.”

Conversation