LEWIS MCCANN enjoyed a Hampden debut to remember on Saturday but joked advice on playing at the venue was not forthcoming from his cup double-winning sibling.

The Northern Ireland under-21 cap scored twice, his second of which was a stunning free-kick, to give Dunfermline a 2-0 win over Queen's Park in the Championship.

His brace were his first league goals of the season, and took his total tally for the campaign to five, in a performance which lit up the national stadium.

McCann revealed that the game provided his first-ever visit to the iconic venue in Glasgow's southside, with COVID-19 denying him the opportunity to attend when his brother, Ali, starred there for St Johnstone.

Ali, the elder of the two and who is now with English Championship side Preston North End, played in the finals of the 2020/21 League Cup and Scottish Cup, helping the Perth side to historic victories over Livingston and Hibernian respectively.

However, restrictions during the pandemic prevented Lewis from being there to cheer on his brother, as he commented: "It's a massive stadium. You don't realise the pitch is that big until you actually play on it.

"It's the first time I've been in the stadium. No games, nothing, because it was Covid when my brother was in the finals, so I didn't get to go to those."

When asked if he had sought advice from him about playing at Hampden, McCann laughed: "No. It's not that kind of relationship. I'm sure he'll give me a text later saying 'well done', and that's about it!

"It was massive (the team's performance), from back to front, from everyone in general. Obviously we've got a lot of players missing, but we banded together quite well to, not grind it out, because we were really good today from start-to-finish. Even towards the end when we were just defending, it didn't ever feel like we were going to concede.

"It's good signs that we're still doing well, even with about six or seven main players from last year out.

"Ppeople seem to be getting injured left right and centre, but it's definitely hard for the team when the players that have been injured are crucial to the team. It's good that we can cope without them."

There was a moment of concern late on when McCann was the victim of a late challenge by Queen's Park's Charlie Fox, which enraged his team-mates and the Pars coaching staff, but becoming "a bit winded" was all that came from it.

That will have been a relief for manager James McPake, who spoke of having belief that his player had the ability to conjure up a wonder strike such as his second goal in him.

"He (McPake) has been pulling me aside at the end of training quite a few times, just telling me to go and just hit them because he says, from that sort of distance, because I can hit them quite hard, he just said he's waiting for the one that goes on target," he added.

"Finally, one went on target!"

McPake commented: "He's got that in him. We see that every day. It gets to the point where we need to tell him to stop practicing because he's risking injury.

"He's great to work with. He would practice all day if he could, and he's getting probably the rewards of that now.

"I don't want to say how he's improved since the start of last season, because I don't think it's that, but just the way he's adapted his game, and the confidence he's playing with, he is a real asset.

"He's big, he's strong, has two good feet, he's got goals like that in him, he can header it, he scores all types of goals and causes all types of problems. I'm delighted for him but he was desperate to get the hat-trick. It's not bad when you're coming away from the national stadium and your biggest concern is that Lewis never got a hat-trick, but that's the desire in him.

"From day one, when we came in and you get to know them, you just judge them there and then and he's been exceptional to work with. Every single day he just wants to give everything he's got to become a better player and you can't get enough of them."