James Vincent hopes to thrive on the love he already feels at Dunfermline after being given the cold shoulder at Dundee.
The Englishman has been welcomed with open arms at East End Park, with supporters revelling in his role in breaking the hearts of bitter rivals Falkirk in the 2015 Scottish Cup final.
Vincent’s cup-winning goal for Inverness Caley Thistle has ensured he has already won over some Pars fans – without playing – since making his loan switch from Dundee this week.
And the 28-year-old admits he was relieved to finally put an end to his Dens Park disappointment after finding himself frozen out of Neil McCann’s first team plans this term.
The midfielder, who made the last of this season’s five appearances for Dundee back in September, said: “I first heard about Dunfermline’s interest just after Christmas time but it just dragged out a little longer than we’ve have liked.
“But I was always happy to come here. I wanted to come here and get playing some football, so I’m glad it finally all got sorted.
“It’s frustrating not to have played much this season. I don’t really feel like I’ve been given a chance this season at my club, and I think the manager there would say the same thing as well.
“It’s just one of those things; he’s brought in a number of players and he’s gone with them. Sometimes you find yourself out and that’s football. It is what it is.
“For some reason, I started against Aberdeen and Hibs and the next week I was in the stand.
“It was one of them where I didn’t have a full reason or anything, but sometimes you judge a situation in football and you go one way or the other.
“I dealt with it and I always trained hard and worked hard, and did what I needed to do for myself, and I accepted that I needed to move on. And I’m happy that this is the next stage.”
Vincent was joined by Sunderland midfielder Tom Beadling and Wolves winger Dan Armstrong in moving to Dunfermline on loan this week and he revealed he has already been given a warm welcome from the fans.
Ahead of a probable debut away to Morton this afternoon, he added: “I’ve had that Scottish Cup goal mentioned a few times already! That’s a plus, to have scored a nice goal against Falkirk.
“Hopefully I’ll have some good performances and they’ll take to me in that aspect as well.
“I’ve never played in this league but I understand how it works. Dunfermline are geared up to going up, in my opinion, so it shouldn’t be too much of a change. I’m just looking forward to getting going.”
