Manager on Thursday

03/11/11: JM- We appealed it because we definitely felt that it wasn't a red card (offence) and we are really disappointed that we have lost that.

The appeal to the SFA against Gary Mason's red card versus Dundee United had been dismissed. The Pars midfielder will now serve a two match ban that will see him miss the matches against Hibs on Saturday and against his old club, St Mirren in two weeks time. Jim McIntyre spoke after hearing the decision which puts another dent in the list of players now unavailable for selection:-

"We appealed it because we definitely felt that it wasn't a red card (offence) and we are really disappointed that we have lost that. But we just need to deal with it now, its gone and put to bed."

That may have sounded bad enough but the Manager also explained that his on loan full back Jason Thomson had been sent to see a specialist:-

"Jason stretched his groin on Tuesday and it looks like he may be out for a wee while. The physio is not confident that it is just going to be a week or two, he thinks it is going to be a lot longer than that. We will not set a time frame just now because we don't know."

So Mason and Thomson are added to the list that includes Rutkiewicz, Phinn, Bell and Barrowman. Better news is that Martin Hardie has been training this week but will not be considered for selection yet. Joe Cardle missed last weekend's match with a knee problem and Liam Buchanan with illness that he has now recovered from.

"Martin Hardie has trained all week with no ill effects but he has been out a long time so we couldn't expect him to be involved this weekend. Every team goes through spells where they have horrendous injuries, results don't go their way and bad luck - call it what you will - but this is when you have to stand up, face it and be as positive as you can."

Macca is looking for the kind of resolve that his ten men showed after the break in the match against Dundee United:-

"For me there's nobody going to be walking about here with a long face. What we have got is a determined group of players who are giving their all, yes they are making mistakes and getting punished for them but the way they came out in the second half told me a lot about the players.

"We were down to ten men from 26 minutes but we came out and had a right go at Dundee United. We gave them a wee scare for a spell. They succour punched us a couple of times on the break and deservedly won the game but we have got to keep showing that fighting spirit."

The Pars gaffer was asked to respond to his Chairman's expression of support earlier in the week and felt that it was just his turn to have the beam of criticism shone on him-

"If he supported me great, it moves from week to week. Colin Calderwood had it a few weeks ago, Peter Houston had it, Craig Brown was so called under pressure. Neil Lennon has had it so maybe its my turn. The bottom line is that if your results are not good people are going to talk about them and use that as an angle.

"People need to realise where we are at Dunfermline and have some realistic expectations. We are sitting in eleventh place and if we finish eleventh or above then it is "job done". It would be quite easy to panic and people say "you have not done this or not done that. There are reasons - we have eight or nine players missing which is a tall, tall order for a Club like this.

"It is a fact but I hate getting into that side of things to make excuses. The reason we have lost games recently is because we have made individual mistakes. I don't want to sound like a broken down record  but we have to get back to giving ourselves a chance of scoring the first goal. That's as crucial as anything in going on to win a game, the stats prove that. We must give ourselves a foothold in the game and stop shooting ourselves in the foot."

The Manager recognised that eliminating mistakes are crucial but there is work to be done at the other end as well:-

"It is about how we respond to mistakes. As much as we make mistakes at one end we have to put the ball away at the other end when you get your chance because it is ruthless in this league."