Next year, Scottish "Premier" league could be joined by two more Lithuanians - the strikers of FBK, who arrived for a trial at the former Andrius Skerla's club, which currently holds the last place in the country's championships, as reported by the official website of the Scottish club.
According to John Yorkston, the president of "Dunfermline", he invited the Lithuanians for a trial thanks to the connections made during a previous trip to Lithuania when the team was represented by Lithuanian Andrius Skerla. It is worth recalling that last year, the current owner of "Kaunas" Vladimiras Romanovas tried to negotiate with several Scottish clubs (among which, as thought, was "Dunfermline") for their acquisition, ultimately choosing Edinburgh's "Hearts".
"The players who have arrived for the trial have constantly scored goals throughout their careers, so I am optimistic that they will help us too. We have a pretty good defense, but we struggle the most in scoring. So that's what we will focus on now. We will test them over the next two or three weeks, and later we will have the opportunity to sign contracts until the end of the season or longer," said J. Yorkston.
25-year-old Richardas Beniusis scored 16 goals last season in the Lithuanian "A Lyga" championships, contributing to the victory in the LFF Cup final against Vilnius "Vėtra" with a precise strike. Meanwhile, 26-year-old A. Velička scored one goal less for the team friend in the Lithuanian championship in 2005, but five years ago he became the league's top scorer and has scored more than 70 times in the league throughout his career. Both strikers have also represented the Lithuanian national team 10 and 7 times respectively, scoring one goal each.
If the Lithuanian legionaries meet the demands set by coach Jim Leishman and contracts are signed with them, they could debut in the "Dunfermline" team on January 8th in the Scottish Cup match against "Airdrie", and a week later, in the "Premier" league match against "Hearts", they would meet three Lithuanians representing that team, as well as coach Valdas Ivanauskas.