The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Pars braced for more bad news on injuries
DUNFERMLINE: Longridge facing op to pile more pressure on boss Johnston
Allan Johnston is refusing to use injuries as an excuse for Dunfermline’s poor form, despite the latest news that Louis Longridge may need an operation on his hip.
The Pars have suffered a string of bad luck with injuries this term, with midfielder Tom Beadling, defenders Lewis Martin and Mark Durnan, attacker Kallum Higginbotham and keeper Sean Murdoch all being ruled out for long spells.
Longridge has added to the Fifers’ woes and has not played since the 2-0 defeat to Dundee United four weeks ago.
The former Hamilton Accies and Falkirk forward was due to see a specialist yesterday and Johnston fears the 27-year-old summer signing will have to go under the surgeon’s knife.
He said: “Louis Longridge looks like he’s going to get an operation.
“He’s been away down to see a specialist and hopefully he’ll get something done.
“We’ll find out more and take it from there.
“We’ve got a few injuries but we’ve got a big squad and we should be able to handle that, even though it does seem like quite a lot of injuries.”
On-loan Hearts striker Aidan Keena also looks likely to miss tomorrow’s trip to face Ross County after returning to his parent club for treatment on a dead leg sustained in the 1-0 derby defeat to Falkirk almost a fortnight ago.
That setback kept Dunfermline in seventh in the table and they are now seven points adrift of a promotion play-off spot.
It was the Pars’ fourth consecutive home defeat, ramping up the pressure on Johnston.
However, the Fifers boss, whose side have lost just once away from home this term, is convinced they can turn it around and sees Dundee United’s recent revival under Robbie Neilson as inspiration.
He added: “We’ve been saying it for a number of weeks, but we need to go on a run. We definitely need to start picking up results.
“There’s no harder place than Ross County away, with the players they’ve got and the squad they’ve got, so we’re going to have to play at our very best to get something.
“We need to start climbing the table and we need to start getting results and I think we’re more than capable of doing it.
“I don’t think there’s an outstanding team in this division and you can put together three or four results.
“Just look at Dundee United. They’ve managed to put a run of results together and now they’re up there challenging.
“That’s what we need to do. But the sooner the better, otherwise it’s going to be difficult.
“Every game’s massive when it gets to this stage in the season and, the position we’re in, it’s important we get results.”
We’ve got a few injuries but we’ve got a big squad and we should be able to handle that, even though it does seem like quite a lot of injuries. ALLAN JOHNSTON