NO BLOOD ON OUR HANDS
Durnan warns team-mates to be on their guard as Pars will be looking to repeat Falkirk thrashing
DUNDEE UNITED star Mark Durnan warned his team-mates Dunfermline will be smelling blood and firmly believing they can copy Falkirk.
The shellshocked Tangerines are bidding to bounce back from the horror of last Saturday’s 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Bairns which left them six points behind Championship leaders St Mirren in the race for the title.
Csaba Laszlo claimed his troops has brought “shame” on the Tannadice club by rolling over in such sorry fashion.
Now Durnan, right, insists the Pars will feel they can do something similar in the wake of the Bairns running riot.
The defender, who is set to return from injury for the clash, said: “I’m pretty sure they will feel they can beat us too. In fact I’m sure most teams will look at that result and want to get one over us.
“But we have to grit our teeth and make sure no one takes any more points off us. The only way you can react from a disappointing result like that is to come back and win.
“So our full focus is obviously on Dunfermline to make sure we rectify that and put on a much better performance than we did against Falkirk.”
Laszlo called for a full-scale meeting among his players on their return to training on Monday morning which Durnan reckons can help kickstart their push for promotion.
He said: “I think he just wanted to have a discussion, see how everyone felt. We spoke about what we did wrong.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having meetings. We have them every day. He just wanted to discuss how bad a performance it was.
“It showed what we did wrong and we’ll look to put that right. At the moment it’s still raw. It’s difficult for the boys to take.
“I’m pretty sure they didn’t have a good weekend and they’re still hurting like the rest of the supporters and everyone at the club.
“It was a tough one to take but you have to bounce back. We will look to win and hope that builds the momentum.”
Dunfermline’s Jean-Yves M’voto insists his team will not be caught cold if there is a backlash today.
He said: “I think maybe all of Scotland was surprised when they saw that score. They are a big club so to be beaten 6-1 it could be just about that one game.
“We all know United are a good team and we will see in this game if it really was a one off – a really bad one off !
“But I don’t think they are going to repeat that this weekend. They will be determined to prove it was so we need to show we are better than them.”