Managers Post Falkirk

18/02/13: JJ - "We just have to take it on the chin and move on. I felt that we were a far better team than Falkirk today."

MATCH PICTURES
Pars Manager, Jim Jefferies felt that Dunfermline looked the team most likely to win at The Falkirk Stadium:-

"We were the better team by far for most of the game. We had the best chance of the first half with Thomson's header. Falkirk maybe had a couple of headers at corners but from outfield play I don't think that they created that much. We were pushing, we had a couple cleared off the line, we hit hit the bar and then one mistake - wee Cardle had the ball played up to him and he attempted to header when he should have held it. It was cut out and there was a through ball. Callum (Morris) said that the pitch just got under his feet a bit and the boy went through and finished it.

"Up until then Falkirk had had a five or ten minute spell where they had a couple of good chances. The boy Taylor had a header in front of goals but they wouldn't have been deserving of going in front there. It was more a lift they got when big Callum tried to see one out and I found it strange that the referee didn't give a foul there when he booked the boy Taylor in the first half. I found that strange, if that was a foul then surely there was a foul on Callum there.

"They got a lift from that and defended a really good ball in from Jordan McMillan. Up until that point there was only one team going to win it. They had another couple of half decent chances but we weathered that and then came again. We were all over them in the last fifteen to twenty minutes but they broke up the park and got the break.

"They did that to us the last time on Boxing Day and got away with it. I don't think that anybody would deny that Dunfermline didn't deserve to get something out of the game today because if you consider all the players that we have had out today and then to lose wee Falkingham, only because of the state of the pitch, you have to give the players on both sides credit.

"It became very difficult to play on that pitch because there were holes and sand all over the place. It cost us another injury because there was nobody near Josh, he went over on his ankle in one of the holes created because the pitch was not firm. He has a real swollen ankle, we hope it is not too bad. He was in ice right away after being carried off. It wasn't a tackle, he went in one of those holes with the sand coming out.

"After the way they played in midweek we were a totally different team today. We go away from here delighted with the performance but deserve something from the game, but that is what can happen."

So where does that leave Dunfermline's chances of promotion?

"It was a good result today with the two teams above us drawing. If we had won today we could have caught up by a couple of points. We had the chance in midweek to go second and we said that we hoped to be up there challenging this year but if we don't make it we won't be good enough. Maybe that might not be a bad thing because people forget that we set out at the start of the season with a younger squad of players so that if we go into the Premier League we are not going there to go back down.

"The trouble with the work to be done is that we might not get to do that because of the fact that the Club is in such a financial problem. The quicker we get that sorted out so that we can plan to take it forward. That is a big concern for us right now. They take it on a day to day basis to try and get money in there to avoid the situation where it comes around every month now that players are struggling to get their wages.

"It is a credit to the players that on the football side that if we weren't ready for this year there was a lot of work done to build on next year. We are not out of it, no way. We have Partick to play twice, we have Morton to play twice and you can never say because you can always go on a run and get back into it. We are not thinking that we are out of it, it is just every time we get a wee chance we are not taking it.

"Due to a lot of players being missing from the last two or three games, it is not easy when you have got players who have been playing regularly like Barrowman, Stevie Jordan and Andy Geggan particularly who has had a great season for us, missing. Hopefully we can get a couple back this week before we play Morton.

"I have nothing but praise for the players this today. I thought they went about it in the right way on a difficult pitch. We kept the pressure on them and we could easily have been 1-0 up before Falkirk. They could have been 1-0 up before we had the best chances with all sorts of pressure on them in those last ten minutes. But they broke away and scored, sometimes it can be a bit cruel but that happened and we just have to take it on the chin and move on. I felt that we were a far better team than Falkirk today."

Steven Pressley thought that his side created one or two good opportunities in the first half, both from set plays and then in the second half, three or four more that they didn't manage to capitalise on.

"It was a really strong, disciplined performance from a very young group of players. You know, I keep talking about it. There were four of our players 18 year old and under, eight of our players 22 years old and under. To give that type of performance today which was a performance of real focus and real understanding of their role and responsibilities was terrific.

"We had the disappointment last week at Cowdenbeath and we had talked about the need for us to tighten up at the back end of the park. We worked hard on that this week but it is okay working hard on it but you need your players to show the courage and mentality. I thought our defenders and those in front all showed the courage to get the result today. I am really proud of them for that."

The Falkirk manager refrained from criticising the playing surface:-

"I have commented on that before and there is not a lot we can do at this moment in time. They have worked on it for the last two weeks and actually tried to get the Livingston game on Tuesday re-scheduled if truth be told because the state of the pitch. It is certainly not conducive to the style of play that we have adopted at this football club. We are where we are and we need to try and deal with that. We dealt with it brilliantly today."

The substitution made by Pressley in 87th minute paid immediate dividend as David Weatherston scored with his first touch:-

"Last week I made a couple of changes and they didn't work whereas this week they did work out. They worked out because of the players response when they go on the field of play. Sean Higgins was very unfortunate not to start, his recent form has been excellent but I had to make a difficult decision but for me the way he responded to that is the reason that they were good substitutions. If he and David Weatherston don't go on the field of play with the right mentality then regardless of my decisions on the substitutions you will not get that type of reaction.

"Yes they can be put down as inspired but it was not about me, it was about the response of the two players, even though they were disappointed when they went on."

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