Manager on Thursday

15/03/18: AJ - “We want to be looking above to catch the teams up above us.”

Allan Johnston was glad to get what he described as a “difficult period” behind him. He told the media on Thursday:-

“It was good to be back at home and get a win. We just have to make sure that we follow that up with a run of results to get us up the table and start putting pressure on the teams above us.

“Morton is always a hard game, they have probably had the upper hand the last couple of times we have played them so it is important that we claw back the gap that they have got.”

It has been stressed to the players that they must learn from the late setbacks against Morton and not lose the match at the end.

“It is all about who performs on the day. You have got to identify how they score their goals. They will turn you, they will put balls in behind you so you have to be ready for that. They are a real danger at setpieces and score a lot of goals from corners and free kicks,whether at the first phase of it or the second phase of it.

“We know to play against them, we have played against each other enough. We know all their players, they know about us so we need the right attitude on the day and it is about who

The manager dismissed suggestion that there were teams lying below Dunfermline in the league that had to be watched.

“We want to be looking above to catch the teams up above us. You don’t really want to be looking below you, so it is important that we get a win. When you look at the fixtures coming up it is a really big period coming up and an opportunity to try and put some wins together. You can see the confidence that just one win makes.”

The match winner against Inverness Caley Thistle was January transfer window signing, James Craigen. The manager was pleased for his midfielder especially after coming close to scoring at Paisley on Saturday.

“He showed a wee bit of character stepping up to score the goal, hopefully it is the first of many because he is capable. He has great delivery with his right and left foot. Hopefully he can reproduce that on the park and get us goals between now and the end of the season.”

AJ praises the contribution made by Lewis Martin who stepped in to fill the left back role vacated by the suspended Jason Talbot.

“It was good for him to come in and play so well because he has not played a lot of football of late. I thought his attitude was first class. He has trained well over the last few months when he has not been involved so it is always good when you see that. That is why it is important to train well, it is up to him now to keep his place and try and keep Jason out of the team.”

Strength in depth will no doubt be important as Dunfermline head towards the end of the season and the manager took heart from the way Martin, Higginbotham and Morris returned to the team in such impressive form.

“There are still other boys there who quite easily step in and do well. There are going to be suspensions - a couple of the boys are close - so there will be changes especially when there is a lot of fixtures coming up. There are going to be injuries and we are going to need everybody to play their part. That is how it is important that they are ready to step in and play. It is pleasing when you see the type of performance that big Lewis put in.”

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