Louis laments Tranmere let down

"From first half to second half it was night and day in terms of personal performances in the team.

Louis Longridge played 90 minutes of the pre season friendly against Tranmere Rovers on Saturday and that follow 58 and 63 minutes on the park in the opening two friendlies. He described how he felt those first three games in the Dunfermline Athletic strip had gone:-

"In the first game against East Fife the boys were just getting accustomed to playing with each other. It was quite a scrappy game from ourselves.

"Then against Raith I thought we performed well and going into the game against Tranmere again I felt in the first half we performed well. We lost a very sloppy goal, I don`t think they caused us much problems in the first half."

The bulk of the play in the first half was towards the Tranmere goal with corner after corner being won only for Larnell Cole to chip in an opener at the other end just five minutes before half time.

The 26 year old who signed from Falkirk in the summer felt that the team had a number of chances but did not take them. Tranmere in contrast had one chance before half time and they scored from it. He said that in the second half the visitors ‘turned up’ but Dunfermline did not. He said:-

"It was pretty comfortable for them in the second half. We were not getting close enough to them and they were finding the extra man in the pockets and we weren`t able to do that.

"I felt sometimes that we were quite sloppy in the final third and defensively the goals we lost were pretty sloppy as well. They were all avoidable. That is one thing that we will have to look at.”

The Football League Two side added goals with regularity in 51, 70 and 87 minutes to leave the Pars on the end of a 4-0 reverse.

"From first half to second half it was night and day in terms of personal performances in the team. It is disappointing to lose any game, it doesn`t matter if it is a friendly or not. There were individual errors today that ultimately cost us. At the other end we have not been clinical enough to get one or two goals ourselves.

"I`m sure the manager will get us in and analyse that before our next pre season friendly. Competitive games start after the Motherwell game but if we play the way we did first half against Tranmere then I am in no doubt that we will get results. But when you look at the second half performance that wasn`t good enough."

Louis has played a couple of different roles in the pre season friendlies, as striker and in midfield. He claims that Allan Johnston knows that he can play several positions and it is just a matter at the moment of seeing which formation fits best for the team and the personnel available to him. Louis continued:-

"The manager is trying one or two things at the moment and these are the games where he is able to do that. Regardless of shape and the way we played it is down to individuals and winning that battle. To a man on Saturday I felt that we let ourselves down."

Defeat to Tranmere apart, Louis is pleased with his decision to opt to join Dunfermline:-

"I came up and spoke to the manager and the chairman. They showed me around the place and I saw the facilities. I was really impressed and obviously that was one of the reasons I signed here because I know how big a club it is.

"I know that it is only a matter of time before things start clicking because we see signs of it on the pitch. For the fans who came along obviously it is a disappointing performance for them. We need to get the finger out, as they say, and start getting the wins because ultimately it is a results driven business. We need to start winning games."

For the first time in his professional career Louis is playing in the same team as his younger brother, Jackson.

"We drove home on Saturday analysing individual performances and we know that we could have done better in different aspects of the game. It is not enjoyable playing alongside him when we get beat but I am sure that there will be many better times in the season.

"You need players in the team who are going to put their bodies on the line. That is what you are wanting your defenders to do. Last season at Livingston they got promoted because every one of them had that mentality. That is built inside him and he has brought that here to Dunfermline.

"He likes to attack, to get involved and puts his body on the line. That is all you can ask but as a collective against Tranmere we need to be better.”

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