Pars need to get back on track after six without a win

Allan Johnston expects clubs to be “queueing up” to sign Lewis Morgan next month – but has urged his Dunfermline side not to be left admiring the St Mirren winger themselves this weekend.

The Pars were ripped apart by hat-trick hero Stephen Dobbie in last Saturday’s 5-2 thrashing from Queen of the South, despite Johnston identifying the former Rangers and Hibs striker as the Doonhamers’ main threat.

This time round, he has singled out Morgan, who has been linked with interest from Celtic and Nottingham Forest, as the man Dunfermline have to be wary of as they try to bounce back.

And, after six league games without a win, Johnston is calling on his own “big players” to rise to the challenge and get their promotion hopes back on track.

He said: “I don’t like highlighting individuals but Lewis Morgan is obviously a top player.

“I watched a couple of the Scotland under-21 games and he was by far the best player on the park.

“I think there will be a lot of teams queueing up for him in January.

“It’s a big game and we want to make sure there’s a reaction as well, because we know ourselves that we let everybody down, everybody connected with the club, last weekend.”

Johnston, who could welcome back Andy Ryan for the trip to Paisley after an ankle injury, was left stunned by Dunfermline’s capitulation against Queen of the South.

The Pars began the campaign with high-scoring performances of their own but found themselves on the receiving end against the Palmerston Park outfit.

And Johnston has urged his players to learn from the hammering and become more street-wise as they seek a turnaround in fortunes.

He added: “I never saw five goals coming, especially with the way we had been defending, so it did come as a big shock.

“But we were a wee bit naive at times. We try to chase games but we need to try to stay in games, first and foremost, because the players we’ve got will score goals.

“We need to get back on track and put in a really good performance. We want the points because we want to stay in contact with the top teams.”