Dan desperate for result over Arbroath

“We are defending well at the minute, we have not been conceding many goals but it is just about taking our chances when we get them.

Since Dan Pybus signed a one year deal at Dunfermline on 2nd July 2021, he has made 27 appearances but after not starting any games during November and December he has enjoyed being part of a Dunfermline revival.

The 24 year old Englishman has started seven out of the eight matches in 2022, only missing the defeat at Kilmarnock because of covid. Dan outlined his approach to his stop start season:-

“I had that period where I didn’t play for a few weeks but I just kept my head down, worked hard and managed to get myself back into the team at the turn of the year. I try and do the best that I can on the pitch and I have managed to stay in the team so long may it continue.”

Graham Dorrans has been playing further forward recently and Dan is delighted to have him as an option:-

“Graham can play anywhere can’t he, everyone knows the quality that he has got. He has been pushed on a bit more forward but it makes my job easier because it means that there is someone to pass the ball to all the time with his quality and that of Steven Lawless and Ryan Dow.”

Dan has enjoyed seeing Dunfermline regain confidence with improved form earning a return of just one defeat in the last six games. The midfielder reflected on the two setbacks in 2022:-

“Obviously one was a terrible defeat to Morton which happens and the other one was the Kilmarnock defeat but apart from that two wins and three draws.

“Those draws could easily have been wins. Look at Ayr, it was a freak goal when we were 1-0 up. Against Inverness we didn’t start great but second half probably could have won the game. We just need to try and turn these draws into wins now.”

Improvement in form is not unfortunately exclusive to Dunfermline. While the Pars have taken nine points from the last six matches, Morton have taken 11 and Ayr United eight. That places all three in the top half of the form league and has meant that Dunfermline have not seen much progress up the Championship table:-

“I think it is definitely frustrating” admitted Dan. “We need to start putting three points on the board, obviously one point isn’t going to be good enough at the minute. The teams around us are picking up three points, so we need to start going on a winning run ourselves.”

Dan experienced foot of the table pressure while at Queen of the South and he stressed that all the players need to trust in each other and believe in each other:-

“Dunfermline has a great fan base, a great support and so that helps. We just need to keep doing what we are doing. We are defending well at the minute, we have not been conceding many goals but it is just about taking our chances when we get them.

“Last Saturday’s opponents Kilmarnock were joint top of the league and there was nothing in the game. In the other two games that we played against them this season - away from home I didn’t play but I watched and thought that we were the better team. Then at home in the 2-2 draw, that was a fairly even game.

“They are 22 points ahead of us but there is nothing between the teams. It is frustrating to think we are down there fighting for our lives and they are up there going for the league.

“In the first half on Saturday especially, we probably did not create nearly enough. It was a scrappy first half, I think everyone would admit that but we stayed in the game and then in the second half when we tweaked the formation, I thought that we had a lot more of the ball without really hurting them.

“We had a half chance you’d say, not clear cut. That is what we need to tidy up on and improve, whether that is getting more bodies in the box, crosses and getting the ball forward quicker. We just need to go away and see what we need to do. We definitely need to create a few more chances.

“On Saturday we could easily have won the game 1-0 in the 85th minute and then we would have walked away from the game saying that it was a great 1-0. It is just those fine margins. It is hard to take but we just need to take each game at a time starting this Saturday.

“We go to Arbroath full of confidence that we can go and beat them. We have to take motivation out of the way they have battered us three times out of three this season. That is a reality check.

“We need to use that as motivation. This is the last time that we are going to play them this season, so make sure that we beat them. That’s the most important thing. We have conceded ten goals against them so far in three games which to anyone’s standard is nowhere near good enough.

“First and foremost we need to match them off the ball if we are going to win the game. We need to go up to Arbroath, match them physically, match them with hard work and then our quality should shine through on the day.”