Dundee youngster Lyall Cameron is developing something of a super-sub reputation this season.
The 19-year-old has found first-team opportunities hard to come by over the past few years.
Until this campaign, the diminutive attacker had made just four appearances for the Dark Blues, playing just a single minute for the club since his first start back in January 2020.
After loan spells at Peterhead and Montrose, though, Cameron has returned to Dens Park a more experienced player.
And he’s made a real impact as a substitute this season under Gary Bowyer, scoring twice as he’s come off the bench in each of Dundee’s four Premier Sports Cup victories.
‘I believe I am good enough’
Now he’s bagged his first goals, including the fifth in Saturday’s 5-1 victory over Forfar Athletic, Cameron has his sights set on a starting spot.
“I’m happy to score for Dundee,” he said.
“It’s a club I’ve been at for a couple of years now and hopefully I can build on them and hopefully take it into some starts.
“I’ve been featuring as a sub quite a lot recently, I’ve being doing decent and having good feedback.
“I always believe in myself that I am good enough.
“I have come on in every game so far in the cup, so hopefully going into the league next week that’ll keep happening and I get some starts in the future.
‘Approachable’
“The manager is a really good guy and it makes a huge difference having such a really nice person around.
“He’s very approachable, is always in a good mood, has us together all the time.
“The new facility we’ve got as well has made a huge impact on the team and that’s shown in our performances because our goal difference is absolutely brilliant and we’ve won every game.
“Hopefully, the manager is keen on me and can give me some starts in the future but I’ll just keep going and doing what I am doing.”
‘Beautiful goals’
Cameron’s first-ever Dundee goal came just over a fortnight ago as he put the finishing touch to a 3-0 victory over Championship rivals Hamilton, firing in a smart finish.
His strike on Saturday against the Loons was a different sort of goal, darting into the area before moving the ball onto his right foot and slotting into the far corner with confidence.
Good morning 👏 👏 👏 #thedee pic.twitter.com/KZtDX6A2Iy
— Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) July 24, 2022
The youngster, though, says it’s tough to choose his favourite between the two.
“They were both decent,” he said.
“For Saturday’s one I just stayed composed, it opened up for me and I saw the gap and slotted it in to the keeper’s right.
“But I enjoyed my first Dundee goal as well as I nipped in front of the defender. It’s hard to decide between the two.
Cameron added: “In the first half that’s one of the best performances I’ve seen from a Dundee team, we moved the ball so well, the manager kept it sharp but we fell off it a wee bit in the second half.
“But in the first half we scored some beautiful goals, played some really good football and I like playing that, it suits me and hopefully I can slot in and do a good job.”
‘We want to keep battering teams’
Manager Bowyer wasn’t happy with his side’s second-half performance against Forfar despite going on to win the match 5-1.
Cameron thinks that sort of attitude will stand the Dark Blues in good stead heading into the Championship season, which starts next weekend at home to Partick Thistle.
“We won 5-1 and after it he was still saying we’ve got more in us and was annoyed we conceded a goal,” he added.
“I love to see that because we want to just keep battering teams, to be completely honest, and score as many goals as we can.
“Going into the season I think we should be favourites to win it and, hopefully, we can go and score a lot of goals and give our fans something to enjoy.”
Conversation