McCabe on Monday

12/03/12:- GMc " The gaffer and myself go about with our fingers crossed that we don't get any more injuries.

Only once this season have Dunfermline fielded an unchanged side. That was in January after the 3-0 win at Kilmarnock when the same eleven took the field against Motherwell. Assistant Manager Gerry McCabe is sure that the inability to put out a settled side has been a major downfall in the Pars quest to maintain their SPL status. Speaking exclusively to the website, Gerry explained:-

"We have not had every player available, options have not been there and we have had young boys on the bench. Shaun Byrne and Kerr Young will get their chance sooner or later. It will come their way but given the situation we are in it is not easy to bring younger boys into the fold.

"In all the years that I have been in football I have never been involved with a club that has had that many injuries to key players. I cannot remember anything as bad as this. The Manager doesn't make excuses about injured players but we know we would be in a much better situation and possibly better position had these players had been available to us.

"We have eight games to salvage it and we are still very positive we can hold it off. They are must win games now and what a difference three points makes. We are hoping to go on a run like we had at the beginning of the season. There is still a buzz and we certainly believe that we can get ourselves out of this situation.

"The players have never waivered, they have never let their heads go down - sure they are very disappointed when they get beat, who isn't. But they are always lively in training and looking forward to the next game."

Gerry McCabe was in sole charge of training on Monday in the absence of Manager Jim McIntyre who was on a two day update for his Coaching Pro Licence at Largs. The players too had some days away last week and Gerry felt that the break was good for them:-

"It clears the decks, they got freshened up and came back recharged. When they came in on Friday they were buzzing. To have them in for three weeks training without any games on a Saturday is quite difficult and not good for their minds."

Gerry admitted that the defeat to Motherwell immediately before this period was not ideal:-

"That is the worst thing after a defeat is to have to wait three weeks to get it out of your system. They will be champing at the bit to get the chance to try and rectify it.

"After having a few injuries, we are trying to get everybody back so maybe the break will do us the world of good, it can go both ways. Hopefully we will have a few more players back fit. Mark Kerr is back in training, Kyle Hutton is back, Burns and Kirk are back and we are quite hopeful that Iain Turner will be on the mend. Kevin Rutkiewicz is a positive guy; he will get a good week's running in and hopefully he will come into contention as well."

Gerry was optimistic but very aware that set backs occur as well:-

"They can get a day's training in but the next morning you can get a phone call from the boy that says 'I felt this' or 'I felt that'. The gaffer and myself go about with our fingers crossed that we don't get any more injuries. That has been a real problem this season because we have never had the chance to put a settled side out on the park."

The management team watched future opponents Hearts and St Mirren in the Scottish Cup last Saturday but have been unable to find a suitable friendly for this weekend. The only other club free this weekend is Inverness Caley Thistle but since the clubs have already met five times this season with possibly one more important match between them yet to come, it was decided just to play a training match themselves this week.

Gerry and Jim McIntyre will watch St Mirren again this Saturday against St Johnstone and then return for the replay that the Paisley side have against Hearts on the following Wednesday.