AFTER netting 19 goals this season and a stunning Scottish Cup show against Premiership opponents, Faissal El Bakhtaoui sent the January rumour mill into overdrive.

Although manager Allan Johnston firmly insisted to Press Sport that his star man would not be leaving the club in the transfer window, Pars fans remained anxious over the 23-year-old’s future until the midnight deadline passed on Monday.

Scouts from a variety of clubs both north and south of the border were reported to be in attendance during Friday night’s defeat to Airdrieonians.

But as far as the French-Moroccan hotshot is concerned, the possibility of clubs being interested in acquiring his services didn’t enter his mind.

Kilmarnock and Hibernian are just two of the clubs who have been linked with El Bakhtaoui since the summer and speculation increased further after a superb performance against Ross County in last month’s cup thriller at East End was broadcast on Sportscene.

But Dunfermline’s top marksman told Press Sport: “I had heard something about interest in me but I had to stay concentrated.

“It is not easy to ignore it but I just wanted to concentrate on my football because I am happy in Dunfermline and the most important thing is for us to go up. If I don’t then I might stop scoring and playing well.

“We want to win the league and then after that we will see what happens in the summer but I am happy here.

“We feel comfortable with where we are but we need to concentrate because we have a big game against Ayr coming up.”

With questions over his Pars future now able to be put to one side, El Bakhtaoui, whose goal against the Staggies was his third in his last six games, is relishing the chance to return to the goal trail at one of his favourite grounds on Saturday.

The Pars travel to Ochilview looking to arrest a run of four games without a win in all competitions – failing to score in their last three – and the ground holds fond memories for El Bakhtaoui after he scored his first goal for the club there just over two years ago.

He continued: “It was a bad game for us on Friday and it was hard but we now focus and move on to the next game against Stenhousemuir.

“It is a massive game and we have to win.

“We have Ayr the week after and they are second, so that will be a hard game for us.

“I scored my first goal for Dunfermline at Stenhousemuir, which I think was my first start, and I have scored in most of the games there.

“I think the pitch helps but I like playing there because I scored my first goal there. I will keep trying to score and I am looking for a repeat.”

His goal tally is already one of the best from a Pars player in recent years but El Bakhtaoui has set himself a personal target between now and the end of the season.

He added: “I am looking for 25 goals. If I score more then I will be very happy with that but something like 25-30 would be really good.”