Manager ahead of Hibs

13/01/12: JM - "No matter whether it is against Hibs, Inverness or whoever we need to get a win and we need to get it soon.

Jim McIntyre views Saturday's match against Hibs as a great chance for his team to move off the bottom of the league:-

"We view games one at a time but we have done well on both occasions against Hibs this season. In one of the games we had to come back from two goals down and draw when we should have been comfortably ahead at half time.

"The day we went to Easter Road we put in a really good performance. Scoring the early goal definitely helped, so scoring the first goal will be crucial as it always is."

The Pars boss is desperately keen to see his team record their first home victory of the season:-

"No matter whether it is against Hibs, Inverness or whoever we need to get a win and we need to get it soon. It is key from that point of view, but the chance to go above them adds to it. Any win gives you belief; we were so close last week at Inverness and it would have been a great shot in the arm but we will take the positives from that performance, if not the result and take it into Saturday's game. Hopefully it is good enough on the day.

"Hibs are a beatable side, like most sides are so it is about do everything properly and give yourself a chance to win the game."

The Manager re-stressed that Dunfermline are only one result away from moving off the bottom of the league while admitting that the results that have been achieved so far have just not been good enough, he added:-

"We will never hide from that. You want to start as well as you can and we did, but we knew that there was going to be a period where things would get tough. I never foresaw the amount of injuries that we would have this year; that has been difficult to cope with as a squad but you just have to get on with it."

Throughout the four years that Macca and Gerry McCabe have been at the helm at East End Park there have been tricky spells and Jim has been through such as a player when he had last day wins with both Kilmarnock and Dundee United to avoid relegation. Having taken over when second bottom of the First Division, Macca is determined to emerge successfully at the other end again:-

"It is all about results, that will never change. Keeping Dunfermline in the SPL would be an achievement in itself but talking about that at this stage is ridiculous because we might win three or four games out of the next six and the picture would change completely. It was way too early to talk about things like that."

For the visit of Pat Fenlon's Hibees, Macca hopes to have Kevin Rutkiewicz challenging for a place. The central defender whose only involvement was in the Scottish Communities Cup defeat at New Bayview in August, played 60 minutes in a bounce game last week and he played the full game against Falkirk in midweek. With no adverse reaction the 31 year old who arrived in February last year on loan from St Johnstone, is back in the squad. The Manager gave a further appraisal of his injury situation:-

"Austin McCann will need an injection just to calm things down. He has got to a certain stage where he is doing a lot in terms of running but the sharpness stuff still niggles so he will get a jag just to speed that along.

"Steven McDougall is back in training as well. Still injured are Nick Phinn and Steven Bell but he is coming on. Steven is two or three weeks into running now and is definitely moving in the right direction which is fantastic for him."

Paul Gallacher will have surgery in two weeks time but will face a six month recuperation period.  After playing just three games, Craig Easton has not had his short term contract renewed and will leave the club at the end of the month.

Norwich City's George Francomb was been brought in on loan by Hibs manager Pat Fenlon.  With Sean O'Hanlon suspended for the trip to Fife, Essex-born Francombe could start in a youthful four-man defence alongside Paul Hanlon and Callum Booth and David Stephens.