Alex Burke Post Airdrie

"After the first half performance, if I am being honest, we didn't deserve to win. At least we came out in the second half and did a bit better. You can't play like that in the first half and expect to win games."

Alex Burke reflected on the 1-1 draw against Airdrie United:-

"As the Manager says we have to take the chance when St Johnstone slip up but we cannot really look at their results unless we take care of our own. It is so disappointing because we felt if we got the result today then something might give. There are not many teams go to Partick and win. Anytime there's a wee chance to close the gap and put on a bit of pressure we come up short."

Alex felt that it was a bad goal to give away:-

"It was from a setpiece which is always disappointing. We didn't seem to recover from that in the first half. We started playing poorly and things weren't going right for us and to be fair we re-grouped a bit - the Manager has had a few words to say which was quite right of him. We underperformed and we came out in the second half and got the goal. I thought we were going to push out and get the winner and Paul Willis was unlucky with a good save from him.

"Nipper had a chance near the end from a header and he has said that the boy didn't know anything about it, it just hit him. After the first half performance, if I am being honest, we didn't deserve to win. At least we came out in the second half and did a bit better. You can't play like that in the first half and expect to win games."

Dunfermline have been drawn away to Airdrie United in the next round of the Homecoming Scotland Scottish Cup and on this league performance they will be a formidable hurdle. Alex is now at his ninth senior club and can recognise how Jim McIntyre views the games against one of his old team mates:-

"The Manager played with Kenny Black years ago and knows teams that he manages are going to be hard to play against. We drew with them here earlier in the season and beat them at their park but it is just a wee reminder that it is not going to be an easy cup tie when it comes. We will have to work hard because it is going to be a really tough game."

Before that there is possibly the most important game of the season looming with the visit to McDiarmid Park next Saturday:-

"If we had got the win today we could have gone there with the incentive of beating them to go top. We still need to go there with the incentive of beating them to claw the gap back and put the pressure right on them. If we had won that would have brought the gap to three points and because I think we have a better goal difference we could have gone there with the incentive of going top of the league. If we can pull it back to two points it will be game on."

With Stephen Glass expected to be out for four weeks with a torn cartilage 31 year old Alex will be trying to hold on to his place in the starting line up:-

"The Manager has left me out of the last two games and got in today so obviously I need to try and keep playing and stay in the team that would help with a result next week at Perth."

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