Manager on Thursday

01/12/11: JM - "It is about this group of players going and showing that they are a better side than they showed at East End Park."

Even though his squad has been decimated through injury Jim McIntyre claims that games against the Old Firm are what all players are looking forward to from the moment the fixtures are released. Last time the Pars faced the Gers it was after the Ibrox side had been dumped out of the Scottish Communities Cup and they fired four goals past Dunfermline. This time the teams meet after the Rangers reversal against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in seventeen years. He commented:-

"Any team is beatable but I think with them being beaten last week and it is very very rarely that the Old Firm have two bad results on the trot but that's what we will be going there to try and make happen. In that previous game at East End Park we never competed. We gave away the crucial first goal from a free header at a setpiece and after that Rangers looked comfortable winners. The biggest disappointment for us that day is that we never showed that we are a half decent side on our day."

The Manager is well aware that his defence has to do better

"It has been our undoing a few times this season but I have got to say that equally we have had good chances to score goals as well. That can be just as important as making mistakes at the back."

There is no doubt the his team's concentration levels have to be far better and it is something that he has tried to drum into them:-

"They give me everything that they have got but they do make mistakes. We need to give ourselves better chances in games and not always have to be chasing the game. Last week we showed a magnificent attitude to come out in the second half and get ourselves into a commanding position and should have seen the game out. We should have made it 4-1 and gone on to our first home victory."

Macca stressed that he and the team need to move on from last week's game. He takes comfort from the fact that his side is scoring goals and singles that out as a big positive:-

"A lot of teams, when they are not getting results the way they want them, don't know where their next goal is coming from. That is not the case with us."

He recognises that in any game against the Old Firm you have to defend really well and take your chance when it comes along.

"Concentration is a huge part of it because they have got players who can punish you in a split second. It is about this group of players going and showing that they are a better side than they showed at East End Park. We want to go there and give a good account of ourselves. We are more than capable of doing that and if we concentrate properly, defend properly we have got a chance of winning the game."

The gaffer described Martin Hardie's availability as crucial especially since his injury list continues to grow. He gave a sick report:-

"He is a very important player, he is a great talker and has good experience. He will handle the occasion no bother; it is just a matter of trying to keep him fit. Hopefully he can have a wee run of games now and a wee bit of luck with injuries. We have lost Nicky Phinn again because he is feeling his hamstring; Paul Burns has not recovered from a medial strain that meant I had to take him off in last week's game, Steven McDougall is struggling with his groin and he had to come off in a reserve game during the week.

"Add to that Jason Thomson and Austin McCann who had a scan this week that revealed a tear on a disc on his back. He will be four or five weeks out. Rutkiewicz, Bell and Easton - he is just not getting out of the bit at all with his calf. We just can't get him back so we have not got our troubles to seek. It is one of the most difficult periods that I have known."

That left fourteen players training on Thursday and two of them - Paul Willis and Ryan Thomson - have started just 23 first team games between them. Joe Cardle is described as 50/50, youngsters and even some "struggling" players will make up the bench but Jim McIntyre is looking for the same commitment that won three points in adversary against Hibs:-

"All I am doing is pointing out that we are severely stretched at the minute. We were severely stretched at Easter Road but went there and won. Rangers have top players and on paper they should beat Dunfermline but that doesn't mean to say that if we do everything right and get a bit of luck on the day that we will not get a result. That is being realistic."

The reserve game on Tuesday against Kilmarnock was a necessity but the Manager felt that it was a bit of a double edged sword:-

"We needed the game for the one or two who are coming back from injury. There were only three or four senior players playing, the rest were the kids and the 19s but it is important that they play reserve games as well because that's part of their development. Playing reserve football against first team players is a step up from the 19s."

Just like at Celtic Park ten days before Jim McIntyre will ask his players to embrace the occasion, enjoy it and show that they can handle going there to play.

"Mentality to play in a big stadium in front of a big crowd is a big part and it tests where you are as a player."