PETER GRANT has praised Dom Thomas for the “guts” he has shown to regain his place in the Athletic side.

And he has urged the winger he knows can be a “match winner” to maintain the high standards of work-rate that can reap more rewards individually and collectively.

Last month, Grant was forced to deny rumours that there had been a fall-out between himself and the former Kilmarnock star, or that he wanted to leave, after Thomas found himself out of the starting line-up.

The Dunfermline boss suggested that the fans’ favourite needed to work harder for the team without the ball – and has been delighted with his efforts since returning to the side.

Thomas has started each of the last three games and, after netting in a 2-2 draw with his former club, scored a stunner to put the Pars ahead in Tuesday’s Fife derby.

“You are getting the things that we have asked him to do, and he has worked really, really hard to do that,” Grant said afterwards.

“I think that he will see that he is getting his rewards for doing that. He is working so hard for the team. He is leading it with his endeavour and his commitment, never mind his talent on the ball.

“He knows what you need to do off the ball and he is doing that. If he does that, I know that I have a match winner. He is more than capable of that, I’m delighted for him and he has shown great guts to keep going and keep going.

“He knows what I expect of him; he knows that he has to keep that standard up all the time, as they all have to do.

“Football is not easy. You have to work really hard at it. You have to be determined every single day, you have to practice every single day to be the best.

“You have to work hard every day, you have to sacrifice every day to be a top player and there is no doubt that he is a top player.”

In addition to Thomas, Grant was also pleased with Ryan Dow’s contribution, continuing: “I think the two wide players played exceptionally well, especially in the first half when we got into really good areas of the pitch.

“I thought that we should have fed them more in that period because they picked up fantastic areas to get the ball. We didn’t do that well enough.

“I felt that we went square or back when we should have played that one forward, we talk about that all the time. Those were moments to kill the game, we had three players if we had broken that line. We should have done that more often because I think you saw the way Dom and Ryan started the game, they were getting into those positions and we were just missing that final pass.

“They are crucial because one goal is always dangerous; you are always in the game if you are one down.

“When you are in front you know that it is a dangerous position if you don’t concentrate, don’t make errors and have the guts to step up the pitch.

“We didn’t do that at a vital time and it cost us dearly.”