Manager on Thursday

09/02/12: JM - "You have to put pressure on yourself to go and get results.

Rangers will arrive at East End Park on the back of a 2-0 home defeat in the Scottish Cup at the hands of Jim McIntyre's former club. The Pars boss believes that Dundee United deserve much credit for their performance:-

"Anytime an Old Firm team loses a game it is all about the Old Firm rather than how well Dundee United played. I thought Dundee United played really well. I am sure that Rangers will not be happy with the way they played but United were excellent and all credit should go to them for their performance rather than it was a case of 'the Old Firm weren't at the races'.

"United started well and made sure that they were right at it from the first whistle. For all Rangers troubles at the minute, they are a good side and they have good players. Obviously things have not gone their way in the last couple of weeks losing some key players but we have got to look after ourselves and try and get a result."

The Pars gaffer feels that there is less pressure when your opponents are the Old Firm since no one expects you to win. This is reflected by Dunfermline being quoted at odds of 10-1 against recording a home win!

"You have to put pressure on yourself to go and get results. We are in a dog fight for our lives here and we have to make sure that we pick up as many points as we can and that's what we will be trying to do."

The only way to claw other clubs into that dogfight is for Dunfermline to win points and the Manager stressed how important it is to concentrate on their own games. In his opinion the team played very well at Aberdeen and started the last game against Kilmarnock really well:-

"They scored against the run of play, then they dominated the game and we scored against the run of play. That was the story of the first half really. The second half could have gone either way with both teams having really good opportunities to score.

"The performance at Aberdeen was good and we deserved more out of it. At Motherwell we got what we deserved but at Kilmarnock we were excellent. So in our recent performances we have not been far away and I think it is important to remember that we have picked up four points from Killie in the last three weeks. Kilmarnock were a top six side for a wee while there so we are not too far away.

"There's no doubt that adding players has put us in better shape. We had good players here but we needed help and the new arrivals can provide that."

Chris Smith stepped in when on loan goalkeeper Iain Turner had to pull out during the warm up for the game against Kilmarnock. The Manager felt that for a player who had lost his place because of the mistakes that he made, he was excellent:-

"He handled the situation really well because it was a really difficult pitch for goalkeepers."

For the high noon meeting on Saturday, the Manager is hoping that his side takes confidence from the narrow defeat at Ibrox back in December:-

"Anytime you perform well against the Old Firm - we did it at Parkhead as well - you have to weather the storm. You need to defend well and your goalkeeper needs to play well. Nothing changes on that front, you need to grow into the game and it is important that you do not concede early."

Dunfermline are likely to be without the services of Iain Turner. Manager Jim McIntyre explained:-

"He is still in a fair bit of discomfort so it is not looking likely but then with back spasms there can be dramatic improvements so we will just have to wait and see."

Otherwise the Pars injury situation is no different than for Tuesday night's game against Kilmarnock; Steven Bell, Nick Phinn, Andy Barrowman and Paul Gallacher are all sidelined. Also missing for the match against Rangers will be the on loan Ger, Kyle Hutton who is covered by a gentleman's agreement that excludes him playing against his parent club.