United again but pressure tells

Mark Kerr:- "It was a hard game away to United given the form that they are in. If we could have nicked something it would have been great."

Mark Kerr spent five seasons at Dundee United from 2003 and 2008 but Saturday was not a happy return for the 30 year old. He felt that his Dunfermline team set itself up to thwart the high flying Tangerines and maybe nick something to take away:-

"We worked on it for the last couple of days but with United getting the second half goal early on, it was difficult. They showed that they are a good team and quite clinical upfront."

A 49th minute opener was what Dunfermline needed but it was Jon Daly who punished the Pars for poor defending from a Robbie Neilson throw in.

"We had a couple of small chances in the first half but the final ball wasn't there. Apart from that we never really made any inroads towards the goal. After a first half where we went in 0-0 you hope for a wee turn and maybe hold on but it wasn't to be. It was a difficult afternoon; a hard game away to United given the form that they are in. If we could have nicked something it would have been great."

Mark knows that the fighting spirit will have to be there in abundance for the final six matches, which in some cases are virtual six pointers:-

"They are all massive now. I am just back after three games out, I have only been training for a week and in the last two games it has been hard to get going."

Inverness failed to do Dunfermline the favour they were hoping for as Hibs helped themselves to a 84th minute winner on Sunday afternoon. Mark has now made seven appearances for the Pars and he was willing to pinpoint luck as one of the key components of a survival strategy but alas that certainly didn't come courtesy of Terry Butcher's highlanders.

"We need a wee bit of quality as well. In the first half we worked hard but when we got into certain areas where a wee bit of quality that could maybe have created. We got in behind a couple of times in the last ten to fifteen minutes of the first half but we didn't have the final ball into the box.

"We are playing under pressure. Once you get into positions, you know what needs to happen but you are not playing as relaxed as you'd normally be. The boys have definitely got it there, it is just that United were the better team on the day and they took their chances. The second goal was a ball over the top and then a breakaway. They are good at it and maybe 3-0 looks comfortable after that but in the first half we had come into it and we thought, maybe we could build on that but it never happened."

The team are not panicking yet maintained Mark:-

"It is going to go down to after the split. We have one more game before the split and that's the one game we need to try and take something out of to give us the best opportunity as we go into it."