NEW Athletic forward Chris Kane is confident he can score the goals that will help lift them up the Championship table.

The St Johnstone forward completed a loan move to KDM Group East End Park on Tuesday and could be in line to make his debut in Saturday's crunch clash with bottom side Arbroath.

Kane, a Scottish Cup and League Cup winner with the Perth club in 2021, will link-up with former team-mates Aaron Comrie and Michael O'Halloran and his former captain, Dave Mackay, who is manager James McPake's number two.

The 29-year-old said he was keen to make the move, with his game time at McDiarmid Park limited under Craig Levein, and has belief he can use his experience to help Dunfermline's young move away from second bottom and relegation danger.

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Speaking exclusively to Press Sport after his signing was confirmed, Kane, who has scored 37 goals in 244 games for Saints, having come through their youth ranks, said: "Hopefully my performances, my experience, everything I bring to the game will help them because you want to get up the table, and hopefully we'll do that.

"Some Saints fans would say I'm not a 20, 25 goal a season goalscorer, but I bring so much more to the game - my link-up play, my hold up play, bringing boys in, winning fouls, getting us up the park. Those are probably my main attributes but I know I can score goals.

"I did at Dumbarton (15 goals in 30 appearances) in the Championship years and years ago, so I know I can score, and if I get the support, I will get goals.

"I wasn't getting much game time at Saints, so I had a chat with the manager, and I said the best thing for me would be to go on loan because I had a bad injury a couple of years ago which kept me out for a while.

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"He did want me to stay at the club, but my game time would be limited. Thankfully I had the opportunity to come to Dunfermline, and hopefully I can kick-on, get some games, score some goals, and get us back up the table.

"I feel like I've got a lot of football to play. I'm 29, some people think it's old, but I feel young, I feel fit and ready to go."

Kane, who has played 15 times for Saints this season, spent more than 12 months on the sidelines, from January 2022 to May the following the year, after suffering a serious knee injury.

"Chondral defect it's called, in the knee. It was a new one to me, I'd never really heard of it," Kane explained.

"Part of the cartilage comes away and they need to replace it with another bit of cartilage. It just wouldn't heal properly and everything I did, it was still painful. It maybe just took a bit of extra time to finally heal, but I managed to push through that and get out the other side, so I'm back on track now. I just need games to keep myself fit.

"I did get myself back playing at Saints, played a good few games at the start of the season, and then new strikers came in, a new manager's came in, so the best option is for me to come out on loan.

"The manager and Dave had a chat with me and said they'd love to have me here, then after that, I was just speaking with my agent, sorting stuff out, and then it happened pretty quickly.

"They've said that if I'm fit, I'll play, so I just need to keep myself fit, stay away from these injuries and hopefully perform.

"I feel good, I feel fit. Obviously I did have a hard time with that injury a couple of years ago, but I feel good now. I had a session this morning with the boys, it was good, so hopefully I can crack on."

Kane added: "That's another thing about coming on loan, playing with a different team, it can re-energise you, or give me more confidence, and then I can hopefully just crack on and see what happens.

"It's a big club, big fanbase. I know they've had loads of injuries - I've been there at Saints, we've had loads of injuries, and it is tough - but I'm sure that with the injuries coming back we'll start getting points and climb up that table."