Captain's Log

"It is only hard work and determination that can get us through it. The next few games are going to be massive for us but hopefully the boys can get a result."

Austin McCann has been out injured since playing against St Mirren on 19th November but hopes that he is now well on his way back. At the moment the Celtic game on 2nd January is as early a comeback as he would predict:-

"I don't really know how it happened. I had a pain on my hamstring for a while but it was manageable but it got worse and worse. I overstretched in the warm up before the St Mirren game; it was touch and go whether or not I was going to play in that game but I decided just to play on."

Austin tried to train on the Monday and Tuesday after that hoping to be able to start at Celtic Park on the Wednesday night but knew that he was not feeling 100%. Physio Kenny Murray sent him for a scan that revealed a tear on a disc in his back. That tear has inflamed a disc that has exerted pressure on a nerve.

"It was pretty serious and the doctor and physio recommended a couple of weeks rest. I have not even been on to the training ground in the last couple of weeks, I have just come to the games and tried to rest as much as possible.

"This week it seems to have settled down. The doctor said to me that usually you are looking at six weeks out but hopefully I can be back quicker than that. I just want to be sure."

The 31 year old Pars captain views this philosophically as fortunately his first lengthy spell out of the game:-

"I have never missed more than one game before really throughout my career. Some of the boys - Steven Bell and Nick Phinn - have been out long term so I can't be too down about, I am only going to miss perhaps half a dozen games."

After an almost ever present period during his 139 appearances for the Pars, Ozzie has found it hard to watch games from the sidelines especially as the team is going through such a hard time:-

"You cannot do anything about it; you want to be in there and helping so it is frustrating. It is only hard work and determination that can get us through it. The next few games are going to be massive for us but hopefully the boys can get a result."

It wasn't necessary to point out to Austin that Dunfermline were beaten far too easily by Hearts on Saturday but he feels that it was never ever going to be easy for his team in the SPL:-

"We are talking about a bad result at Tynecastle but that is a big step up from where we have played for the last couple of years. We have got to learn and learn fast because we are down at the foot of the table now."

Aberdeen have turned their fortunes with wins to lift them off the bottom and Ozzie is hoping Dunfermline can start stringing results together.

"We have a home game against St Johnstone next. Our home form was good last season but it has not been good this year but even with the injuries we have, the team that we have been putting on the park is still well capable of getting results."