DENIZ MEHMET has joked that he would've "told you you're mad" if he had imagined supporters chanting his name this time last year.

But the Pars goalkeeper, who has equalled a club record for the most clean sheets recorded by a single stopper in a season, admits that the trials and tribulations of last season have made this season's success all the sweeter.

On Saturday, the 30-year-old, who arrived in the summer of 2021 from Dundee United, recorded his 20th League One shut-out as Dunfermline thumped Queen of the South to seal the title in style.

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Mehmet has played in all but one of Athletic's competitive matches this season - the only one he has missed was an SPFL Trust Trophy tie with Celtic B - and has been a star man in their immediate return to the Championship.

Dunfermline Press:

That has been a sharp contrast to last season, when he played just eight times – six of which came before September – as both Peter Grant, who signed him, and his successor, John Hughes, oversaw a disastrous season that culminated in the drop via the play-offs.

Fast forward 12 months and Mehmet is a first pick on the team sheet, a reliable presence between the sticks, and the subject of his own song from the fans, to the tune of Status Quo's 'Rockin' All Over The World', declaring 'We've got Deniz Mehmet in goal'.

At the beginning of the season, he told Press Sport that he felt like he had a point to prove after a tough first campaign at East End, but, when asked if he was buzzing to hear his name being sung after wrapping up the title, he said: "It is, definitely, considering what it was like last year, 100 per cent!

"I think, if you had told them a year down the line they'd be doing that, they'd have told you you're mad. I would have anyway!

"It's just mad how football changes so quickly. Now, we've got a big challenge ahead next year in the Championship, so we've just got to give it everything again.

"It takes a lot of character to have a bounce back, because the majority of the team is the same bunch of boys that there was last season.

"It was the most surreal feeling I'd had when we lost to Queen's Park. I couldn't believe it. I was sat there thinking, this is not happening sort of thing, and them, not even a year down the line, we're celebrating like this to be back where we were again.

"It's amazing."

Mehmet revealed he would have to leave the celebrations that were set to continue into the night early, to pick up his partner from a holiday, but joked he would have enough family and friends to "field two teams" at the Clyde game on April 29, when the players will receive the trophy.

He will hope to mark that occasion with yet another clean sheet and, on the number he has set, he replied: "It's a good one to have, but 100 per cent, but the boys have been so good all year in front of me to be honest.

"The majority of the time I've been stood there, really, let's be honest!

"They've been putting the hard work in, but it's very much everyone's record, from top to bottom, at the club."