Pars wait for Dorrans

“Graham won’t be ready for this week but hopefully he will for the last couple of games. I’m really hoping for that …..

The calf injury to captain Graham Dorrans is likely to keep him out of another Dunfermline match. The 34 year old midfielder last played on the first Saturday of last month in the away game against Arbroath but his manager is optimistic that the influential player will return before the end of the season. John Hughes said:-

“Graham won’t be ready for this week but hopefully he will for the last couple of games. I’m really hoping for that, even if it’s just to play a small part, that half an hour or an hour.

“Graham Dorrans is still the best player, absolutely fantastic, and I think he’s sadly missed. I think he’s also a little bit disappointed to be missing because of the style of play we’re playing. You can see his eyes lighting up and saying, ‘I wish I could be a part of that’.”

The manager’s optimism extends to the next three matches in which he feels that the improved form and performances will tell and the points required to avoid the play offs at the foot of the Championship can be earned. Two steps forward with a draw against Morton and a win over Raith Rovers we’re followed by one back at Kilmarnock:-

“It’s been a bit like that since I’ve come in, but the steps we’re taking forward are big steps. It’s about the consistency of performance that we’re looking for.

“It was disappointing on Saturday we couldn’t get to the heights we showed against Raith Rovers, but there’s no point in cutting yourself up about it, the game’s done and dusted.

“You can look at it post-match and pick it apart. Defeat is part of being successful as well and you can look at it and say, ‘come on, we need to be better than that’. There’s three games left to go and all to play for, and so we need to look forward.”

Dunfermline faced Dundee United in a bounce game on Tuesday and apart from Graham Dorrans out with a calf injury and Paul Allan with a hamstring injury John Hughes hopes to have a full squad to select from on Saturday for the visit of Ayr United.

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