Manager Post St Mirren

"We are not trying relegate Hibs, we are trying to keep Dunfermline up.

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Jim Jefferies thought that his side were trying too hard in the first half to impress their new gaffer:-

"They gave me effort and commitment in abundance, but I learned a hell of a lot in 45 minutes. They were guilty of not making passes and were struggling to get into the game. There was plenty of desire and they were doing well to break up moves.

"Joe Cardle was causing us more problems than St Mirren because he was coming in when we wanted him to give us the width. He was coming in to crowded areas and then losing the ball because there was no room to find people. They were crowding him out but he was terrific in the second half when he got the message. When we did the team talk on the board he was our wide player on that side and we wanted Liam Buchanan to come in a wee bit to balance their system.

"He was better in the second half and he was more of a threat. Every time he got the ball he was a danger and I told him that I will never ever criticise him if in the last third he goes to be positive and take people on. He has got the ability to hurt teams."

The Manager felt that the goal early after the break made a huge difference and he heaped praise on an unlikely person:-

"I have to give the referee credit because we had an incident through the week there that happened to St Mirren. The referee was initially going to give the penalty but he just delayed his award. I think the St Mirren boys were expecting a penalty but Joe followed up and put it in anyway. One referee got criticised for this week and the other referee today should get praised because he allowed it to continue.

"The goal galvanised us and then Gary Mason has had one fantastic strike. I think it was Carey who cleared it off the line. But they were pushing forward trying to get a winner and I was always worried because they have some good players to hit you on the break.

"I had to make two or three changes. They changed their system early and we changed ours at half time to combat that. Then they went back to the system that they played in the first half. We had to go back again with the substitutions because they would have hit us on the break and might have eventually scored.

"We kept going to the end and had a close one from our last corner. Overall we came off the pitch not happy with our first half performance, not in terms of effort but in terms of quality. We improved in the second half but I have only had a couple of days with them. There will be a few ground rules laid down with them in terms of what to do and what not to do.

"Some defenders were trying to chip it into the middle of the pitch to pick out players. When you are down there in the predicament that you are in, you need to play a bit more of the percentages. I am not saying play long balls, I am saying get it down and pass it. Don't take so many daft risks.

"We took a throw in in front of me where he tried to throw it to a boy square with him when he is under pressure. He gets robbed and then suddenly they break away. The player who has taken the thrown in is out of the game and the player who has lost the ball so they just need to learn that when you are down there you grind out a few results.

"It is alright when you are sitting half way up the league elaborating a wee bit but right now we have to be a bit more professional. I will say one thing, they have a lot of guts and determination because they kept going right to the end. That is something that sometimes when teams are down there you get accused of what put you down there, but not this team. It is maybe that we bit of savvy at the right times."

The gaffer told his team before the game how important to keep in touch to give themselves a chance:-

"We are not trying relegate Hibs, we are trying to keep Dunfermline up. Hibs will be the same and any other team that slip up with points and could get dragged into it. We have just got to concentrate on winning. What we have today is finishing the game with one point nearer our nearest opponents."

Jim was unaware how the other results had gone when he spoke to the press but being told of Inverness Caley Thistle's win at Pittodrie commented:-

"That looks more like it is between Hibs and ourselves. We are a point closer, we still have them to play but we have to make sure that we are in the hunt when that comes around. We would have liked to have won, and it would have been a big win given the result elsewhere. If Hibs had won today our draw would have left us further away.

"It has been a decent day but the idea was not to lose. We will take it and try and build on it. I am sure our performances will improve as long as they keep up that application and effort. At least the Dunfermline fans saw that we were prepared to fight to the end today."

St Mirren Manager Danny Lennon said of the match:-

"Dunfermline, we expected them to come out and fight and scrap for everything and they certainly did that. We were expecting that with the new manager and I thought we met that challenge very well.

"I was bitterly disappointed with the start to the second half. Dougie [Imrie]'s done well taking the possession and I felt he could have given it to the strikers. He tries to come back in and we get caught and defended very poorly. From our point of view leading 1-0, it was disappointing to lose that after 46 minutes.

"Dunfermilne had a good wee spell after that, caused us a few problems and we then made some changes ourself.  We start to control better periods of the game and the players were saying it was a difficult pitch.  It certainly looked like that and we never got a good passing rhythm going in terms of what we have been doing the rest of the season, from the back to the middle.  I felt in the second half from middle to front we always  looked dangerous on the counter.  We had one or two very good opportunities."

Lennon went on to praise Jim Jefferies qualities and how the Dunfermline support reacted to the new manager:-

"You expect that from any team that is fighting for their lives. What was very important for us today was not to lose."

It was suggested to Danny Lennon that draws were the curse of St Mirren this season but he saw Saturday's game as a positive:-

"It was a scoring draw! Give Dunfermline credit, they defended admirably and got a lot of bodies in between the ball. Chris Smith who has had a difficult season had a very good game and looked comfortable at collecting. We tried to put him under pressure and I thought he handled it well. Right at the end wee Paul McGowan had a wonderful opportunity - I'd like to see it again."

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