Loan star Jamie relishing his own personal cup run

Midfielder Jamie Lindsay admits he is feeling like something of a cup specialist after scoring his third goal of the season against Falkirk last weekend.

The Celtic loan star netted on his debut in a Betfred Cup tie against Berwick Rangers before adding his second of the campaign in a 6-0 rout of Beith Juniors in the Scottish Cup at the beginning of last month.

Lindsay continued his streak by breaking the deadlock in last Saturday’s fourth round win over the Bairns to set up a last-16 tie with Rangers at Ibrox.

Although he has been pleased to discover a scoring touch in tournament football, the 21-year-old would also like to branch out and start finding the net on league duty.

Speaking exclusively to gmfc.net, he said: “I got the ball and passed it to Gary [Oliver]. Gary’s played a great switch out to Forbesy [Ross Forbes] and they didn’t really have a defender in the [centre of the] box.

“I thought to myself: ‘If I can get in here and Forbesy can manage to get that across I got have a tap-in.’ Before I knew it I got there and the ball was in the net. It was a good team goal.

“It’s quite funny. I scored in the League Cup and then I scored against Beith and Falkirk. I only score in the cups; I don’t score in the league. I’m a cup specialist – I don’t know how!

“It was good getting a goal on Saturday. It makes a win that wee bit better, doesn’t it? When you get a wee feeling for it, you want to score again, so maybe I’ll go on a wee run now of scoring a couple of goals.

“I’m trying to add goals, but the way we play, that’s not really been me and Andy [Murdoch]’s main jobs. Adding goals is maybe the next thing we need to add to the defensive stuff that we’re doing.

Ton came out on top as third and fourth in the Championship squared off and Lindsay felt the second-half display was up there with anything they’ve produced this term.

He added: “The first half I thought they actually started quite well. First half, the tempo was really high. It was kind of end to end and they had that chance at 0-0. Gats made the save, and stuff like that can change the game.

“I thought the second half was one of the best we’ve played all season. I thought we were really, really good after half-time. Everybody was really enjoying it. You know that that way when you’re on the ball and everybody’s showing for you.

“It’s not that anybody would hide, but everybody’s wanting the ball and wanting involved, and that comes from confidence because we’re doing well and we were 2-0 up. So I thought the second half was really, really good.”

Sunday’s fifth-round draw saw the club handed a huge cup tie away against Rangers, now confirmed to be played on Sunday 12 February, after being mistakenly paired with Celtic.

Parkhead loanee Lindsay was gutted for that split-second as it meant he would have had to watch from the stands against his parent club – so the quick correction left him on cloud nine.

He explained: “I watched the draw in the house and when they pulled us out after Celtic, I thought: ‘Oh, no,’ because that meant I couldn’t play.

“Before the draw I was saying to my mum and dad: ‘Just give me any team apart from Celtic.’ But obviously it was wrong thankfully, and I think Rangers is a great draw for everybody at the club.

“They’re one of the better teams in Scotland at their own stadium in front of crowd of maybe 30,000 or 35,000 and on the television.

“And you never know, if we can keep playing the way we’ve been playing for the majority of the season, it wouldn’t surprise you if there could be a shock because we’ve done well against teams like Hamilton and Kilmarnock.

“Before then, we’ve got some important league matches to try and keep picking up points and keep the run going, but when that day comes it will be a big one for everybody at the club.”

Ton return to league duty away at Ayr United tomorrow in a Championship fixture to be screened live on BBC Alba at 5.15pm, but Lindsay misses out through suspension due to an accumulation of bookings and he’s cut up to be absent.

He sighed: “I’m out tomorrow, can’t play at Ayr. I’ve had six bookings and I’m absolutely gutted – I cannot believe it. It was just a silly yellow, the 90th minute against Raith when I got my sixth booking.

“Then again it’s just one of those things that you can’t do anything about and just need to get on with it. You just need to look at it in a positive frame of mind rather than a negative.

“Maybe it’s a week off to recharge the batteries and ready to go the week after and hopefully the boys will pick up three points tomorrow and keep us up near the top of the league.”

Images: David Bell