Manager on Thursday

27/12/18: AJ - “There is a whole team that is not scoring enough goals. The large part of the responsibility falls on the strikers but we need to make sure that we give them supply as well.

Manager Allan Johnston stressed that as a team Dunfermline need to improve and need to kick on. Speaking to media on Thursday he started by reviewing last Saturday’s league match at home to Ayr United and it was a match he felt that his team should have won.

“I don’t think we did enough in the first half to be ahead but second half I thought we did well. We just need that goal, it has been the case for a lot of games this season.

“We were playing against the league leaders who obviously had a lot of confidence. It was a good performance that we put in and I suppose we can build on that. There is a chance to try and get the three points against Falkirk.”

There was a late chance for Lawrence Shankland to win the game for Ayr but he sent his shot wide left when most would have expected the league’s leading goalscorer to have found the net.

“The way our luck has been going you would have expected that to have gone in. He doesn’t miss much in the form that he has been in. We ended up a wee bit fortunate but that just comes from us not taking our chances.

“Teams are going to get an opportunity, we saw that against Falkirk the last time that we played them as well. They more or less had one opportunity from 25 yards and they scored from it.

“I don’t know how many shots from in and round about the edge of the box. It is about taking our chances when they come along and it is going to be a hard game at the weekend because you can see that they have picked up recently.

“They are a hard team to beat, they get a lot of players behind the ball, they sit really deep at the edge of their box sometimes with five at the back right across the 18 yard line.

“It is hard to break that down. We will have to be patient but we have to make sure that we don’t get caught on the counterattack like we did the last time.”

With no goals scored in the last three matches, AJ felt that is very important that his team starts scoring goals if they are to have any chance of catching the teams up above them. He clearly sees the matches against Falkirk and Alloa opportunities to make up some ground:-

“If we are going to get in the top four, we need to go on a run and build up momentum. When you look at the games coming up, they are against teams below us in the league. We have to make sure that it stays that way. We have to make sure that we go out and try and put in a really good performance, get the three points and start working our was up that table.”

Given it is their biggest derby match, the Pars manager fully expects Falkirk to have a go at his side although agreed that they do currently tend to major on defending.

“It is part of their game to try and hit you on the counterattack. It gets a wee bit frustrating and hard to break down at times. That is why it is important to get the first goal, because if we get the first goal they have to commit. Hopefully we can take advantage of that.”

With three shut outs in the last four league games the manager felt that his side has defended better recently:-

“We are not losing as many goals, especially when you compare that with the last time we played Ayr when I thought we got bullied all over the pitch.”

The manager was quite clear though that his strikers have not delivered the goals wanted from them.

“It is not acceptable when you are half way through the season and they have scored the amount of goals that they have scored. They need to start scoring goals and if that is pressure then so be it and they have to deal with that.

“The rest of the team has got to start scoring goals as well and that comes from everybody, from setpieces and midfielders but obviously the onus is on the strikers.”

The gaffer has suggested that shots maybe need to be got away earlier or players need to take an extra touch.

“It is hard to make that decision, they can really only make that for themselves in the heat of the moment. They have done it before, they can score goals and it is just about getting a couple of goals to get that confidence to get back scoring regular because they are more than capable.

“There is a whole team that is not scoring enough goals. The large part of the responsibility falls on the strikers but we need to make sure that we give them supply as well.

“We need to put more crosses into the box, we need better quality in the last third so that they have opportunities because sometimes that has let us down as well. As a team we need to improve and need to kick on.”

Allan feels that his side needs a bit of freshness and will be seeking to use the January transfer to sign goalscorers.

“It is certainly a position that we want to strengthen but we will just have to wait and see. Nobody wants to lose their good strikers so it is the hardest position to fill. It is an opportunity for players who are here already to step up to the mark and make that position their own. Hopefully somebody will do that.”

One striker who that won’t be that somebody however, is Andy Ryan ruled out after going through an operation and he will be out for a few months. Aidan Connolly is expected to join in full training next week. Louis Longridge is still missing but Ryan Williamson is training.

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