The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Points are all that matter – Murray
Euan Murray has heard the critics saying undeserving Dunfermline only clung to victory against Alloa last weekend “by the skin of their teeth” – and he could not care less.
The Pars skipper is adamant the only thing that matters for the Pars at this stage of the season is wins.
And he would take another backs-to-the-wall performance away to Queen of the South again this afternoon if it means another three points on the board.
The Fifers regained second spot in the Championship and inched closer to leaders Hearts with their hard-fought 2-1 success against Alloa.
But defender Murray knows they are facing the form team in the league this afternoon after Queen of the South beat Dundee last weekend to stretch their impressive run to just one defeat in their last nine games.
The East End Park skipper said: “It’s all about winning, it’s all about picking up points and going to these places and winning.
“Doing that is what propels you up the league, it’s what keeps you in playoff positions, it’s what keeps you closer to Hearts.
“If you can find a way of coming away with a result and winning three points, it’s massive.
“It’s another chance to put three points on the board and keep us ticking over, but we know how tough it’s going to be.
“It’s not about drumming that message in to boys because we’ve got a good set of boys and everyone knows what it’s about; we’ve got a lot of experienced lads, people who have been there and done it.
“But I do harp on at this stage in the season that we need to pick up results.
“If you take last Saturday there against Alloa, for example, people said we got through it by the skin of our teeth.
“But I’ll take that all day long rather than losing the game.
“Queens are the form team in the league. They’re on a great run and they’ve had a good result last Saturday against Dundee, so they’ll be flying high.
“But we’ll go there looking to get three points and hopefully we can put a wee run together again.”
Murray scored a remarkable seven goals in his first 10 games this season – but has failed to hit the net since.
But the 27-year-old insists he is content to play a small part in attack if it helps the likes of new signing Craig Wighton grab the limelight like he did with a debut double against Alloa.
He added: “I’ve still ended up on the end of a few things but they’ve just not been as clear-cut as the chances I had earlier on in the season.
“Whether that’s because I tend to find there’s almost two folk marking me at times now – usually somebody to block my movement to start with and then someone picking me up in the area.
“But, it’s certainly not the Euan Murray show. I’m more than happy to make decoy runs and try to take folk away and let the other lads chip in.
“One of them that was great to see was Craig Wighton coming in on Saturday and getting off the mark.
“I couldn’t be happier for him to come in and stamp his authority on the side the way he did; I thought he was excellent.”