Jim Jefferies on Thursday

Jim Jefferies is happy to return to Ochilview Park this Saturday since it has been a happy hunting ground in matches against both Stenhousemuir and East Stirlingshire there.

"Okay we left it a bit late last year but I think the new surface suits us. The pitch is better, we saw that when we played there a couple of weeks ago. It would be nice to go there and get the same result but I do not think that it will be quite as easy a game. Obviously Stenhousemuir are a much better team at this present moment.

"We are playing really really well. The first half of the game against Peterhead we can put on a parallel with the best of our performances this year. It is the old story though; when you are that far in front of teams with that many opportunities you have to kill them off. We didn't do that and what that does is give the other team a wee bit more belief.

"I thought that we were excellent for the opening fifteen to twenty minutes of the second half with ample opportunities to finish them off. We are allowing teams to block shots and maybe we are not hitting it early enough or hitting the target or taking our chances. Some of the build up play was excellent.

"So it is very frustrating when you play that well to draw with a team that we have outplayed for an hour to seventy minutes. I do not think that they did anything different, what they did was put men up and lump it over. It should mean that we were free to have more space and deal with those boys pushed up.

"It doesn't matter what subs you make, what system you change to, I do not think that Peterhead were ever going to score from outfield play. What needed to be done, was what we told them at half time - while it is at 1-0 you have to make sure at corners or free kicks. They had one or two boys who can deliver a good ball and some big targets. We have got to deal with it and we just didn't do that.

"I am frustrated for not killing them off from the chances, the quality of the play and the dominance of the play but also because we were worthy of being three up in the first half alone. We have got to make sure that we cash in on that superiority.

"Peterhead did very little in the game apart from the last twenty minutes when they lumped it forward. We have sat back, got a bit sloppy and there was nothing more sloppy than the goal that we gave away. There was two minutes to go with a chance to go back to the top of the league. You have to defend that with a will and determination. That is why we lost the goal from a simple free kick.

"I said to them at half time, the only way that they will score is from a corner or free kick that is not defended. You could see the reaction when they lost the goal, I am glad that there was only a couple of minutes to go. Peterhead with their tails up and the wind behind them, had another corner not long after it that thankfully we defended.

"Even then we had a great chance right at the end. It was a good save from their keeper Graeme Smith. He was their man of the match again, that tells you that they were never the better side. For twenty minutes yes they launched the ball at us and it suited their type of game but what we did was invite them back on to us.

"It wasn't so much what they did it was just that we didn't combat that. It was nothing to do with subs or systems just a case of pushing up the park. Putting more men in their area than our area. We just didn't do that and that is what is so frustrating."

JJ reflected on the bigger picture concluding that Dunfermline have thrown away eight points in the last three league games against Forfar, Morton and Peterhead. Remarkably it could be claimed that even then they are a point near the top.

"It is not because the other teams are that great because if they were they would be cashing in. What is happening is that when we are getting away with failures, they are also getting away with bad results. We are gifting teams the points yet the others are still only a point off the lead.

"We have only lost one in the last seven but if we can get it right and start not throwing games we are capable of creating a big lead in this league."

The manager felt earlier in the season that his side was not creating enough chances but now there is little doubt that they are. Players are getting into good forward positions and creating more options. He cited Andy Geggan as being an example of how things are different this season from last:

"He had a golden opportunity against Morton from a Forbes pass. Last season he would have turned and put it in the net. He has only scored one goal this season but probably had more chances. It is just not happening for him now.

"Moffat you could not criticise for his work rate, for his link up play, his running but you have a man who scored thirty goals last year. You watch him in training and he doesn't snatch at them, he puts them away. He slots them away even when you don't expect it. He is the type of player who needs a couple of goals.

"We remarked at the start of the season just how well Faissal was working and playing but needed a goal. Now he has scored six goals in his last six games and so Moff is the very same. I cannot fault him because he is not committed, not because of the lack of application, it is just when it comes to the crunch he is not finishing it off."

Goalkeepers can be beaten when shots are struck early and the manager feels that taking that extra touch, or beating another man, taking somebody on is the problem:-

"We had a couple of great set ups in the first half on Saturday and we do enough shooting in training with the various ways of hitting it. You get teams scoring more goals who never have as much possession; teams that don't have the dominance that we have in games.

"Having said that one should have been enough on Saturday had we had done the other side right. That was the frustrating thing."

JJ felt that it was a head scratcher that apart from the through ball that Ryan Scully came out to take at an attacker's feet, his keeper had nothing else to save.

For Saturday's return to Ochilview Jefferies hopes his team just pick up from where they left off two weeks ago and not pass over the opportunities to seal the win:-

"You want your team to play well because that should give you more chances of winning a game but that is the bit that's missing right now.

"We go there and just hope that we can keep the form that we are in but just do the last part better. We are looking forward to it, we know that it will be a tough game but as I have said before we have to contend with everybody wanting to beat Dunfermline because of the size of the club we are. We know that we shouldn't be there in the first place, it is a big game for them when Dunfermline come to town and they raise their game. That is just a fact of life.

"If we are playing that well and not winning, we maybe need to change our ideas a wee bit. Maybe playing a little less - it goes against the grain because you want your team to entertain the supporters. I do not think what we are doing is wrong, it is just that we have that little part missing in the jigsaw that would turn the game."

The gaffer stressed that there is no guarantee that the likes of Morton, Forfar, Stranraer or Ayr are going to take full points every week. Indeed seventh placed Peterhead are only five points behind Dunfermline who currently sit second.

"It is such a small league that if you think you have an easy game you are kidding yourself."

Looking at players availability Josh Falkingham is backing in training but needs a game after a couple of weeks out recovering from having his tonsils removed. The manager may consider him for a subs slot on Saturday and is more likely to return in the under 20s match at home to Ross County next Tuesday afternoon.

Lewis Martin will be missing on international duty with Scotland under 19s but also back training is Ryan Wallace since his scan on the stress fracture that sidelined him is showing up fine after scan. His return is likely to take some time. It will take two to three weeks with the physio to get him at the stage where he can join in training with the first team squad. The manager is optimistic that the turn of the year would be a realistic target.

"If we had him I think some of the chances we have been creating wouldn't have gone a begging. That is one of Ryan's strengths, he doesn't need to think, he is a good finisher."