Managers post Stranraer

Link to audio of both managers post match comments

Pars manager Stevie Crawford was first asked for an update on his keeper Ryan Scully who was stretchered off after being injured 14 minutes into the cup tie:-

“We have just heard from Kevin (Bain) that Ryan was knocked out but we have had reports back that Ryan is talking. Other than that I am not sure what the rest will be.”

In terms of the game did the right team go through?

“We are just extremely disappointed. It is the first time where I can turn around and say that to a man we have underperformed. We knew the conditions, we knew coming down here wasn’t going to be an easy tie and to lose the goal in the manner we did is disappointing because it could have been preventable.”

What do you put that underperformance down to?

“It has happened a few times over the season. As a coaching staff we need to look back to see if there are similar traits. We have spoken and I don’t want to say what I have been saying in the dressing room. The players are disappointed I must stress that and as a coaching staff we are disappointed to go out the cup. We need to look at other ways to try and win certain types of games.

“League positions do not count for anything in cup competitions. We got the plaudits for a performance at Celtic and the highs of that. We performed exceptionally well on the day. Today we got the lows but there are very few occasions that all eleven players have underperformed. I have said that and I am not deflecting anything away the team selection.

“I have to look at myself and evaluate whether it was the right starting eleven to play but the reality is that we are out of the cup and now we have to stick together as a group and look forward in the league and start putting results together.”

Stranraer hit the post and had one of their efforts cleared off the line, so the signs were there in the first half that the League One side were a force to contend with.

“We know that Stranraer had long throw ins, it was something that we had spoken about Through the week. Jordan Allan puts in a decent throw and we were probably a little bit fortunate that they hit the post in the early part of the game.

“I thought the game died down a little bit after Ryan’s injury scare. On that side of things, Cammy Gill came on and we had used one of our substitutes. Ryan Dow unfortunately picked up a similar injury to that which kept him out earlier in the season. So that was a change forced upon us as well. We are extremely disappointed that we haven’t performed and managed to get through this tie.”

The difference between the sides was a penalty converted by James Hilton after Lewis Martin had handled the ball in the box.

“If we look back at the penalty, sometimes we have been on the wrong end of penalty decisions but it was a clear penalty.”

How does the cup exit affect the manager’s finances and team’s confidence?

“On that side I have a good relationship with the chairman. A good cup run can obviously bring finances to the club so it is disappointing in that respect. I will shoulder that responsibility. It is not easy standing here as a manager after a 1-0 defeat and getting knocked out in the early stages of a cup competition but it means too much to me, the coaching staff and to the players.

“You can be critical of players and disappointed. Sometimes you feel that they are not on the same journey as you. They know that they have not performed to the levels that we can. It is important for as much as we are trying to be a club that develops players that we stick together and make sure that we start performing in the league.”

“The reality is if you feel sorry for yourself it becomes a long season. That is far from the way that I want to lead this team. The people who have turned out in numbers coming down from Dunfermline today, I don’t want to apologise because I do not want to patronise supporters. I think that they will be able to see and hear from the way I am talking that I am really really disappointed.

“There are things that we need to address and that is not being critical of the players because I am not shouldering all the blame on them. We need to find ways of winning certain games of football.”

The omission of on loan players Greg Kiltie and Harry Cochrane, was that so as not to cup tie them?

“Yes but it gives other people opportunities. I am not going to stand here as say that if Greg Kiltie and Harry Cochrane we’re playing today that we would have won the tie. That is disrespectful to the players that started, it is also taking something away from Stranraer.

“Stranraer made it a competitive cup tie and on the day have managed to get through. All credit to them and I wish them the best in the competition.”

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