The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Opportunity for Pars to turn back clock
Jason Talbot has urged Dunfermline to turn back the clock against St Mirren and recapture the form that saw them display title-winning credentials at the start of the season.
The Pars head for Paisley today with manager Allan Johnston under pressure after they failed to win any of their last six league games.
Last weekend’s 5-2 hammering at home to Queen of the South saw them drop out of the Championship play-off places and slip 10 points adrift of tabletoppers Dundee United.
It was a far cry from the displays of earlier in the campaign, when they thrashed Inverness Caley Thistle 5-1, thumped Falkirk 3-1 and swept aside St Mirren 3-0 in swashbuckling fashion.
But Talbot, one of the Fifers’ most consistent performers this term, is convinced the East End Park men still have the ingredients for success.
The left-back said: “Everything we tried to do last weekend, nothing came off, and then we were probably trying a little bit too hard, and then still it didn’t come off.
“We have to settle ourselves and just look forward to this game, because obviously it’s a massive game and it could kick-start our season again.
“We’re not a bad team. You don’t become a bad team overnight, just because you’ve not had a couple of results.
“We need to get back to the way we were at the start of the season – scoring early goals and finishing teams off when we had the chances – and stop leaking goals.
“It’s a massive game for us and one we’re looking forward to.
“It’s a tight league and one that we still want to challenge for.
“So, this is a great game for us to put things right and get ourselves back into the play-off spots at least.”
Talbot added: “They have got a good front four or five players, who do very well, so it is going to be a tough game for us.
“But I think we’re more than capable of beating them, and I think we showed that when we played them at home.
“We nullified them from the front and if we can do what we did in that game then I’m positive we can come away with a result.”