Managers Post Livingston

26/01/13: JJ - "Right now you are struggling to score the goals that you were doing earlier in the season

MATCH PICTURES
Disappointing though the result against Livingston was, Jim Jefferies couldn't fault all the effort his team showed:-

"We gave a daft goal away through a catalogue of errors. We didn't mark tight enough at the edge of the box but the ball was there to be won in a 50-50 but we came out second best. It broke for the boy and he hurt us by going in and doing the damage.

"Up until then we had started the game well and you wonder early on if it would be our day because we had fantastic break and Joe Cardle beats the goalie but a player has got back on the line and it has hit him.

"After gift the goal, it gave Livingston something to hang on to. They sat in deeper behind the ball and I thought we dominated possession, especially in the second half. I said to the players 'right now you are struggling to score the goals that you were doing earlier in the season'. Maybe the wrong options were chosen or maybe at the vital time we need that touch to be better.

"At one point Joe cut inside the box, beat two people but run into bodies. Right now, especially in this game, our final ball in that area is not what it should be. As far as effort, build up play and intensity - over the last four games, that's probably as good as we have played for a wee while in terms of dominating the game.

"When you play like that, pushing and pushing you can get hit on the break. Livingston have players that can do that to you. They got in behind us a couple of times, we dealt with it well enough and they never really gave Paul Gallacher many shots to save.  We tried our hardest but its not happening for us and that has a lot to do with the quality of the ball that is needed to create that chance."

The Pars Manager accepted that dropping further behind Morton and Partick Thistle makes it that bit harder in the push for promotion:-

"We still have a lot of games to go but right now it is just a spell where it is not happening. We just have to keep your head, keep battling away to get a result and then justr hope that it happens to other teams as well. We said before the game that it was a very important game because we let ourselves down against Airdrie, when just didn't play. We were miles better today but we scored in that game and we didn't score in this game today. That shows you what football is like.

"It makes it harder because you have dropped points again. Nobody can rule us out because we are well liable to turn it around if the players keep showing the same attitude. Maybe I need to change it a bit or the formation. That's something that I wil have to decide to try and get a spark into our play. I hope that they will give me the same effort and will to work as hard as they did today because it is much better than the last game and if they continue to do that I am sure a good result will get them going again."

The Manager explained that Andy Geggan was substituted midway through the first half because he had been doubtful for the game and was withdrawn because he felt the injury again.

Livingston manager Gareth Evans claimed his side played better at Cappielow last week and lost, so he was delighted to take full points back to West Lothian:-

"With better decisions in and around the box we probably would have had more clear cut chances than Dunfermline within the game. They had an offside goal and one created chance where Andy McNeil made a good save.  If we had chosen a better option on the counterattack then we could have won by another goal.

"Our performance in the second half was great defensively. We are renowned for our passing football but it was nice to be able to do the uglier side of the game. The whole team did well defensively against a team that was playing in the SPL last season. It is a really difficult place to come and they are not near the top of the table for no reason at all so to come here and get a victory is fantastic for us."