Manager on Thursday
Thursday, 20th Dec 201820/12/18: AJ - “You have to defend, you have to win your individual battles and outwork them. Hopefully if we do that, then our quality will shine through.”
Manager Allan Johnston knows where the threat lies with Saturday’s opponents Ayr United.
“Shankland scores the majority of the goals so I think a big part of that will obviously be stopping him. That is easier said than done, he has scored a lot of goals this season. He is playing with a lot of confidence and seems to look a lot fitter this season than he has done over the last couple of seasons.
“It is going to be hard, we are going to have to be at the top of our game, they have a lot of good players. Even guys who have be3n here before - Moff is really good foil for him as well. I think he does all the hard work and Shankland scores all the goals which isn’t a bad combination.
“We are at home, they are one of the teams that we have had a lot of games against over the least few years so hopefully we can come out on top.”
Expanding on the threat of Shankland, a striker who has scored 28 goals in 24 appearances this season and six in the last two matches against tough opposition in Dundee United and Ross County, AJ continued:-
“He comes alive inside the box, that is where the majority of the goals that he scores come from. He has always been like that but obviously when you are in that kind of vein of form where everything just falls in your path and you get that wee bit of luck as well.
“This weekend it is about us, we are aware of their good players but we have to focus on ourselves. We need to get the goals, we need to kick start our season because the position that we are in are not good enough.
“We know ourselves that we need to start climbing the table, we need to put a run of results together and there is no bigger game than doing it against the league leaders.”
Ayr have scored 11 goals in their last three games and the Pars manager is well aware of the five goal defeat they inflicted in their last away game.
“The way they hammered Dundee United was a wake up call to everybody. It shows you how well they are playing because Dundee United are a top team. It is going to be a hard game but a game that we can go into to get a result because we have the players capable of winning the game.”
The manager took confidence out of last Saturday’s match at Palmerston:-
“I don’t think Queens had a shot on target yet they were at home. It speaks volumes of how the boys played but we need to find that wee bit of composure. I still think that we have good strikers, they just need that wee bit of luck sometimes, a wee bit of confidence and then once you start scoring it makes a massive difference. If you go on a run that can shoot you up the table.”
The manager has tried numerous permutations and formations to try and get the results that have been eluding them of late. He added:-
“We are not scoring goals and we need to find ways of taking our chances and being a bit more clinical. It is frustrating but we will get there.
“Sometimes you need to change the formation, sometimes change the personnel. I don’t think it helps, and it is not an excuse because we have players who can come in and are more than capable of playing, but we have an incredible amount of injuries and operations this year.
“I don’t think I have ever been at a club that has had as many operations. We have not had a great deal of luck that way but in the same breath we still have players capable of coming in and we should not be where we are, we should be a lot higher up the table.”
The manager agreed that a start similar to the one against a Morton in the last home game is what he would like but also felt that the performance against Ayr at Somerset Park in August he still rates as one of his team’s worst of the season.
“They absolutely bullied us and we cannot let that happen. Shankland ran a mock in that game and we have to make sure that we handle him a lot better. You have to do the ugly side of the game. You have to defend, you have to win your individual battles and outwork them. Hopefully if we do that, then our quality will shine through.”
The manager agreed that Dunfermline have not had the best of starts to the season, they have not hit top form but only four points off it, they are still in contention for a play off place.
“If we can manage to get the goals that we need, because that is all that is missing just now, we will quickly shoot up the table and put ourselves in a right good position. Any team in this league can beat each other so if you manage to put a run together you will climb the table quick.”
It is the last home game of the year but against an alternative of last minute shopping, it is very hard to predict the size of crowd likely to turn out on the Saturday before Christmas, Allan observed that every time Dunfermline and Ayr have met there has been a good atmosphere:-
“I think Ayr will bring a big support just because they are top of the table. Usually when teams bring a big support there is always a better atmosphere. Hopefully the fans will get right behind the team and we can get the three points we need. That would set us up for the next game.”
On the injury front, Louis Longridge and Aidan Connolly are on the way back but today Andy Ryan was getting an operation on his hip. Lewis Martin is ill, Sean Murdoch is in recovery mode after his operation.
Looking further ahead to the transfer window that will soon open, the manager revealed that there are a couple of positions, if he gets the chance, that he would like to freshen it up.
“It is always good to bring in a wee bit of freshness but we will need to wait and see.”
Views : 3,043
