Jak in this flatter to deceive talk
Alex has his say on pundit’s verdict after mum tunes in
MORTON v DUNFERMLINE ALEX JAKUBIAK reckons Michael Stewart was “harsh” in his assessment of him eight days ago.
But the Dunfermline striker has vowed he won’t let any criticism affect him as he plans to shine today at Morton.
The experienced former Dundee and Watford player was instrumental in last week’s televised 3-1 victory over leaders Dundee United.
Ex-Hearts and Hibs midfielder Stewart, co-commentator for the BBC, said of Jakubiak as the 60-minute mark approached, it’s the “best I think I’ve seen him play”.
And 20 minutes in, he had declared the 27-year-old had been “good” while saying his fellow commentator was “spot on” in saying it’s clear what a fit and firing Jakubiak offers Pars.
But Stewart then said: “All too often he doesn’t bring that to the game, you look at the attributes he has, he’s got two good feet, he’s strong, he’s not slow by any stretch.
“All too often he just flatters to deceive but certainly in this opening 20 minutes he’s been good for Dunfermline.”
But Jakubiak hit back and said: “With my injuries and being in and out of the team, I thought it was a bit harsh but he’s entitled to say what he wants. ‘Flatters to deceive’ was the quote I picked up but I was happy with my performance.
“Performance-wise it was probably one of my better games. I got a lot of messages saying how well I’d done.
“My mum was watching it on the TV but you might not believe I was fuming after the game that I didn’t get a goal.
“As frustrated as I was that I didn’t score, getting an assist and contributing, helping the team by holding up the ball and trying to be a nuisance to their defence, helped us get up the pitch. As a team there were a lot of positives to take.”
Jakubiak insists the Pars are out to make amends after being hammered 5-0 by Morton at East End Park last month.
He added: “It is going to be a completely different game. Putting five goals past us hurts but it shows how good Morton can be on their day.
“That will be in the back of our minds, wary of the threat that they can carry.
“They bullied us that game, they were the better team on and off the ball.
“We know what we can do and how good we can be so we just need to do that on the day and hopefully that will give us a positive result.”
Dougie Imrie insists he didn’t get too elated by Morton’s 16-game unbeaten run – so he isn’t too down after losing four in a row. Ton climbed off the bottom to surge up the table, as well as progress to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup, as they turned the campaign around on the back of their unbeaten run.
But their form has stuttered as they’ve been missing key players, including George Oakley and Iain Wilson.
And they have now lost three in a row in the league with their Cup adventure ended by Hearts. But Imrie is determined to get back to winning ways against the Pars and knows three points will lift them back into the play-off positions.
He said: “I never get too high and I never get too low. When we were on that fantastic run we had our strongest 11 playing but unfortunately now we’ve had to deal with two or three key players not being available and that’s had an impact.
“You’ve seen it this season with other teams, such as Dunfermline, Arbroath, Partick Thistle. They’ve all gone through bad periods and that’s down to players missing. We’re the same but we’ll come again.
“We know this will be a tough game as Dunfermline had a fantastic win against Dundee United and they’ll be buoyed. If we win it will push us back into the play-off places.”