dunfermline 4 Ashcroft (2), Aird (25), Ryan (72), Higginbotham (pen, 87) brechin city 0

Dunfermline predictably completed a clean sweep of victories over relegated Brechin to stretch their winning run to four and their unbeaten run to eight.

They remain well-placed to secure a spot in the play-offs after Morton’s defeat yesterday left the Greenock side five points adrift with two matches still to play.

The Pars ought to be relaxed, yet Inverness are casting a dark shadow over the Fife club.

Despite being eight points behind, Caley have two games in hand and could throw a massive spanner in the works by beating Dunfermline at home next Saturday.

“Inverness are on a good run as well, but we’ve just got to focus on ourselves,” said Pars boss Allan Johnston.

“We’re playing with a lot of confidence, scoring lots of goals and not conceding, so we’re more than capable of getting a result next Saturday.”

Brechin have yet to win a league game this season and arrived at East End Park on a 13-match losing streak, so it was no surprise to see them go two-downafterbarely25 minutes following goals from Lee Ashcroft and Fraser Aird. Sub Andy Ryan’s header and Kallum Higginbotham’s late penalty added further gloss in the last 20 minutes, and Johnston commented: “You’re always happy to get all three points at this stage of the season.

“You can see how tight the league is, so we’re relieved that we didn’t slip up today.

“We had plenty of chances in the first half and their keeper made a few good saves, but we controlled the game and could have won by more.” Brechin manager Darren Dods added: “We knew it wouldbetoughhereandwe needed to start well, but got off to the worst possible start. “We changed a few things at half time and did a bit better in the second half. We had a few chances and Isaac Layne hit the post, but our heads went down and you have to feel for the players.”