Dunfermline’s summer signing spree continued when manager Jim McIntyre snapped up striker Andrew Barrowman from Ross County on a two-year deal.
“It’s a big opportunity for me,” he added. “There’s no guarantee you’ll play but it’s a chance to come here and work hard and prove to the gaffer he was right to bring me to the club.
“I’m only 24 but I’ve had a few slaps in the face already but thankfully for myself, I’ve knuckled down and worked my way back up.”
“I was in the third division only two years ago and managed to win that with Dumbarton.
“When I left Everton I was badly advised and after a few things fell through, I ended up at Dumbarton but I loved my time there.
“I always thank Jim Chapman and Alan Adamson for taking me in because I was on the scrapheap and they saved me from going |out of the game. We won the league and it was a happy place to be.
“Things also went well at Thistle last year and now I have this chance.
“People always mention my Everton days but I never actually played for them. There are plenty players who started at big clubs but it’s just an education.
“It’s like going to school you get educated and then see where you’ll go from there.
“There’s now a sense of achievement that I’m in the SPL but I always err on the side of caution. If I didn’t play then that wouldn’t be an achievement, so it’s about proving yourself and getting that next contract.
“I know Austin is the captain and plays in my position. He’s very reliable and dependable so I know it will be tough but that’s the same anywhere and we’ll both be trying our best to make the jersey our own.”
He becomes the East End Park boss’ third addition this week, joining Paul Burns and Patrick Boyle in the Pars squad for next season in the SPL.
McIntyre also admitted he has made an offer to former Dunfermline goalkeeper Paul Gallacher who has just turned down a new deal with St Mirren to rejoin the club and he is weighing it up.
However, out-of-contract Pars right-back Calum Woods has accepted a deal from English League One’s Huddersfield Town, subject to a medical next week.
“Andrew Barrowman is a player who has done very well against us,” said McIntyre. “Target men are hard to find but he has always been a player in my thoughts.
“I tried to sign him once before when he was coming back from Inverness to Ross County, but the length of deal didn’t suit him, so he went there for more security.
“I like players who have a bit of hunger and have taken a couple of knocks. Hopefully, they can show the second time around that they can play there.
“They’re young, hungry lads but it’s not just that, it’s boys I think are good enough. That’s the biggest thing. If I didn’t think they could play here, I wouldn’t sign them.
“I would say I want another three players and that will be us.”Patrick BoyleMeanwhile, new signing Boyle has revealed how former Dunfermline player Jackie McNamara who took over as Partick boss when Ian McCall left performed a U-turn after he asked him for advice.
He said, “Partick offered me a new deal back in March when Ian was in charge but I knew there were a few things in the pipeline and I wasn’t prepared to commit.
“To be fair, he understood. I spoke to Jackie just before he became the gaffer and he said if Dunfermline went up, then it would be a great opportunity as they’re a big club.
“This was the club who gave him a start and he was very complimentary.
“But then he became the gaffer…and told me not to go. We had a laugh and joke about that. Seriously though, Jackie knew my mind was made up. He said he’d have loved me to stay but he knew already.
“He was supportive in the end. I texted him when I signed here to wish him and the club all the best and he told me to make the most of this.”
Boyle was called the best left-back in the first division by McCall last season but the player knows he has work to do before he can think about deposing club captain Austin McCann.
However Boyle, who was also formerly at Everton and Dumbarton, is determined to seize his chance with both hands.