Jim Jefferies on Friday

04/01/13: JJ - "There is plenty water to go under the bridge before it gets down to the nitty gritty. ...

Jim Jefferies expects a full squad to select from for the trip to Dumbarton on Saturday and he is wary of meeting a side that appears to be improving fast:-

"The best way to look at it is that they have had two fantastic results. Ian Murray has given them a lift and I probably like it that way because without those couple of results our players might have thought they just need to turn up and it was a foregone conclusion. They have beaten two really good teams and teams who have beaten us.  That is warning enough. We will have to respect Dumbarton for doing that but the performance in midweek to get the result and the result (Dumbarton) that went for us gives everyone the lift."

It will be Josh Falkingham's last game for a fortnight after going over the disciplinary points threshold meaning he will miss the home match against Airdrie United on 12th January but with every respect to his opponents JJ feels that's a match in which his side can cope with one of their key player's absence:-

"We should have enough cover to deal with that situation. That is not to say that we will treat Airdrie any different from anybody else because they have proved that they could force Partick into a draw."

Josh Falkingham

The former IRN-BRU SFL Young Player of the Season when he was playing with Arbroath has handled the step up to full-time football well. He likes to drive at teams and create openings for team-mates and most opposition fans regard him as a 'constant pest'.  Josh can score goals from distance as well and some predict that he could well be the player to drive Dunfermline back into top spot.

The Manager was pleased to be back on level terms with Partick even though the Firhill side have two games in hand:-

"We are no worse off now than we were a couple of weeks ago. Partick have got to win those games and one of them is against a team that has already beaten them this season. There is plenty water to go under the bridge before it gets down to the nitty gritty."

The now Dumbarton manager, Ian Murray trained with Dunfermline in pre season and the Pars gaffer described him as a good pro in whom he had no hesitation in welcoming on to the training pitch at Dunfermline:-

"It was with a view to signing him because we were short at the back at that time until Callum Morris came. I was upfront with Ian - he had been out a long time through injury and we couldn't afford the risk. We had already let two or three boys go who had long term problems. He understood that but I said if he came in and did training with us, proved his fitness and he said that he was prepared to do that. I would probably have signed him because we saw an improvement in his fitness levels.

Ian Murray in pre season at Dunfermline

"When Callum became available, he was the younger option and that's what the Club was looking to do, so I explained that to Ian and he had no problem with it. He rang me up the other day because his man couldn't make the Morton game against us and I fed him the report we got from Morton's previous game just to help him on his way. He appreciated that because it turned out good.

"That's nothing untowards, I'm sure that happens against us, you try to help people. Everybody will be the same, other managers are good lads and I am sure if somebody was needing a help out I'm sure that they would try and do it."

The two games coming up would have been good ones for young Shaun Byrne to settle into midfield but its likely that the pre arranged under 20s trip to Cyprus might be where the 19 year old will be in mid January.  Jefferies continued:-

"You can see how he got his chance and got into the first team. If I didn't think he was going to be involved and he would be sitting in the stand it would be a straightforward decision. This is not a jolly, it is an SFA arranged trip and it is quite stringent in terms of the rules. The decision might be made for us because not only would we have to pay for him pulling out, we'd have to pay for someone else going.

"Shaun has come in and given Stephen Husband a break, we have Thomson there, Falkingham and Geggan back as a midfielder. But I can assure him that if he is not playing, he is not forgotten about. He is very much in our future plans, he was terrific for an hour. You have got to remember that this boy has gone into the first team without even having a lot of games in the under 20s.

"We had faith enough in him to throw him into a Fife Derby, it was a big decision. I have had him training all season with the first team, I see him every day and he is not out of place and he was ready to start. We just wanted to freshen things up and felt that the supporters would get  behind a new boy coming in. He went out and never let anybody down. He can be proud of his performance, particularly in the first half when I felt he was excellent. He has a bright future, he can play for Dunfermline and also play at a higher level."