Warm weather training

Maca and Muirhead stay at home as team mates head for Spain. Injury blow for Greg Shields.

Dunfermline travelled to their warm weather training centre at La Manga with a party of 29.  Two of the squad from the Dundee United match did not make the trip - Jim McIntyre and Scott Muirhead.

Jim McIntyre is still recovering from a serious neck injury and his rehabitation programme includes twice weekly appointments that are crucial to his recovery. He has still three weeks left and so for the next three Mondays and Thursdays he needs to attend for treatment.  Scott Muirhead sustained a knee problem at Tannadice on Saturday and he had a scan on it on Sunday.  He was left behind in Dunfermline to receive treatment from physio Paul Atkinson.

Injured pair, Freddie Daquin and Souleymane Bamba also remain at Dunfermline while the rest of the first team squad head off to Spain.  Greg Shields is suffering from a hamstring injury but as team captain he was included in the party to travel. 

It was confirmed on Sunday that Greg had torn his hamstring at Tannadice chasing Colllin Samuel back in one of the first moves of the game.  Greg says that he has never sustained such an injury before but has been told to expect to be out for four to six weeks.

Travelling Squad: Dorus de Vries, Roddy McKenzie, Sean Murdoch, Greg Shields, Phil McGuire, Scott Wilson, Stephen Glass, Jim O'Brien,. Stephen Simmons, Gary Mason, Adam Hammill, Stevie Crawford, Jim Hamilton, Mark Burchill, Jamie McCunnie, Calum Woods, Greg Ross, Bobby Ryan, Jamie Harris, Scott Morrison, Owen Morrison, Iain Williamson and Darren Young. 

Manager Stephen Kenny while looking forward to the next week in Spain, was still rueing the enforced substitutions at Tannadice on Saturday.

"Yesterday we were a bit unfortunate to lose three players to injury. Greg Shields, Scott Muirhead and Stephen Simmons - it meant that we couldn't use the attacking options that we would have liked to.

"At La Manga we will be training twice every day with the emphasis on practical. This has not been possible at home because of the bad weather. We are not scoring goals and this gives us a chance to work on that.

"This will be no holiday, its work. We need to sort out the way we want to play. It will allow integration of the new wide players. We will work on being creative and scoring goals against opposition."

Stephen Kenny wanted to register his appreciation for the large and loud support that travelled to Tannadice on Saturday:-

"Since I came to the club that was the best away support we have had. Maybe it was because they were so close to the pitch but it was excellent and very encouraging to see numbers like that travelling to game away from home. There was a lot of singing and they got behind the team. We got a lift from that.

"With Dundee United getting beat in their last two games they picked a bigger team. They were the most imposing team that we have played and with the pitch the way it was it made it hard to put play together. The pitch cut up but Adam Hammill did well in a game that was very direct. In the poistion we are in I would have preferred to get three points at this stage but every point will matter."

Dunfermline will return from Spain on Thursday.