The signs were there in his first appearance under the new manager when James McPake brought Nikolay Todorov off the bench versus Buckie Thistle in the Viaplay Cup group stage.
The score was 2-0 and the Bulgarian target man went on to score twice in a 5-0 win.
It was the first of three sub appearances in that competition and he has gone on to make just 12 starts across all competitions this season – three of those in the SPFL Trust Trophy.
Saturday’s equaliser as a second-half substitute was his 10th of the campaign, making him the club’s second-top goalscorer – one ahead of Matty Todd and one behind Craig Wighton.
The week before he flashed in the winner away to the same opposition in an incredible comeback from 3-0 down.
‘Spot-on attitude’
That was the most special of his goals so far but what happened afterwards says a lot about the player’s character.
Todorov didn’t go to the crowd to take the glory, he didn’t make some sort of gesture about a lack of minutes.
It wasn’t just that he ran toward Wighton who had set up the goal with an outside-of-the-boot cross.
Once the 26-year-old reached Wighton he called as many Pars players as possible to join in.
Todorov’s dramatic late winner and celebration versus Airdrie:
It backs up his manager’s words after Saturday’s 1-1 draw: “He’s now made 31 appearances under me and his attitude is spot on – whether he’s playing or not playing,” said McPake.
Todorov has started just two League One matches since the end of October yet has netted four goals in that time.
After starting and scoring at home to Kelty Hearts he scored from the bench against Queen of the South and in both recent fixtures against Airdrie.
Other contributions
Those goals sit next to other important strikes from earlier in the season: the winner against Montrose, again as a substitute, before opening the scoring with almost the exact same goal the following week in Dumfries.
Then there is the opener versus Airdrie in the early stages of the season – a Callum Fordyce own goal that has wrongly been given to Todorov on some websites, such was the Bulgarian’s influence – and winning the penalty in the home draw against Falkirk.
Fordyce’s own goal:
Those latter two involvements have come when he has made the starting XI and the Pars have won six and drawn three of the nine games he has played from the beginning.
But it is his impact as a second-half substitute when his team are in need that has been his biggest contribution, given his obvious physical attributes.
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It is also one of the reasons the Pars sit top of League One as we enter the final months of the season.
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