Fifers gunning for leaders and better points total

No one at East Fife will be coasting along unto the end of the season according to manager Darren Young who is demanding a full bloodied performance against league leaders Ayr at Bayview today.

The promotion play-offs are now beyond Young’s side, but no one will be downing tools with thee boss saying: “We still have targets to hit as I want to better last season’s points tally of 46. We are seven short just now. If we can get above that in our final five games after having a disrupted summer and a short period of time to bring a squad together then it will be an achievement.”

“There are also contracts available for next season and the existing players are best placed to secure them. If someone decides to throw the towel in and just think they can turn up and not put maximum effort in then they could well be in for a shock at the end of the season.”

“Also everyone wants to beat the league leaders and I am no different. We could have beaten Ayr on their last visit to our place which seems a strange thing to say when you have lost 4-1. We were ahead in that game and then were undone at set-pieces but overall we deserved more.”

The Fifers go into the game on the back of a 2-0 defeat from neighbours Raith Rovers that still rankles with Young who said: “Raith had one shot in the first half and that came from a mistake we made in midfield. They were better in the second half, however if we had gone in at the break one or two goals up then no one would have complained.”

Mark Docherty is the only absentee with the midfielder still recovering after a knee operation.

Picture: SNS. Lewis Martin says he and his team-mates know they have everything to play for.