Do or Die for Hardie

Monday night is massive for big mental Martin

Martin Hardie became a legend in his own East End Park lifetime when he scored the goal last season that killed off Raith Rovers promotion challenge and set his team up for a promotion clinching match at Cappielow. Now he is set for another game of as great importance and one that every Pars fan is wishing for more Hardie heroics. Big Mental Martin, as he has fondly been termed, is well aware of the consequences at stake when the Pars meet Hibs at Easter Road on Monday night.

"Of all the big games I have played in my career this one is right at the top. Last year we had the Raith Rovers game, which we knew we had to win to put one hand on the trophy - but now this is the opposite scenario of having to win to survive."

Martin was out of sorts on Wednesday night, struggling to come to terms with a stomach bug that had struck several of the squad in the previous week but he is sure that he and his team mates can be firing on all cylinders when they cross the Forth:-

"When you are in these type of games you need to be prepared to step up the the mantel and be in the business end of the game and get into the position to score. Monday is do-or-die for us.

"We are in the big league playing against the big teams and this is where we want to stay. Unfortunately for us, Dunfermline have been at the bottom end of the table but this game is about rolling up the sleeves and making sure that you perform to your best to make sure that we get the points we need.

"We've got to keep believing. Every time you go into a football match, no matter what position you are in the league, you always believe that you are going to win the game. Obviously Monday night is now the game of the season for us and it's a must-win."

Hibs win at Pittodrie was greeted by much celebration by the travelling support but if the Pars can win on Monday and follow that up with a second home win of the season on the last day against Kilmarnock then Hibs need to avoid defeat in Inverness or it would be them who would face the drop to the First Division. Martin is sure that if they can go to Easter Road and win, it will plant that a seed of doubt in the Hibees minds going into the last game.

" I assume they will probably have a bigger crowd than they have done in the past couple of games and the expectation is on them. With Hibs being the home side and perhaps with some of them having one eye on their cup final, all the pressure is on them.

"Hibs will probably say we're just saying that because we're trying to put the pressure on. But we have been at the bottom of the league for a large number of weeks and the pressure has been on us to get results and under Jim Jefferies we have started to do that slowly but surely."

The Mission Impossible as the gaffer has mused is to lift the Pars off the bottom of the table spot that they have occupied since Saturday 10th December. Martin continued:-

"We know that the ultimate aim is to get all three points and it will be interesting to see how they react if we can get an early goal.

"The home form has obviously disappointed everybody but the effort and commitment has always been there. We have come up against better teams than us and that has been a learning curve for us. Last year, without being disrespectful to other teams in the First Division, we didn't expect them to score against us."

Dunfermline are unbeaten in their last three matches. Three games that they have taken five points from and succeeded to achieve shut outs in their last two. Mistakes appear to be less likely and so there is great hope going to the show down in Leith. Martin is taking heart from this concluding:-

"Whereas at this level we have been really punished at times with some of our results at home being three or four nil. Over the season we've not been as hard to beat as we have in the past couple of weeks."