McPake to assess squad
ATHLETIC boss James McPake has said the club will continue to assess their options on whether to make further transfer moves.
Earlier this month, free agent, Alex Jakubiak, put pen to paper on a deal until the end of the season to become Dunfermline’s eighth signing since returning to the Championship.
Forward Jakubiak, who was signed by McPake for Dundee three years ago, made his debut in Saturday’s win over Queen’s Park at Hampden, a game that saw the Pars have to do without the likes of Deniz Mehmet, Kyle Benedictus, Matty Todd and Kane Ritchie- Hosler.
Mehmet has returned to full training this week, however, whilst McPake was able to welcome back Craig Wighton, Sam Fisher, Harry Sharp and Ben Summers for the Spiders clash, having missed the previous week’s SPFL Trust Trophy defeat at Dundee United.
Clubs outwith the SPFL Premiership can sign players on loan for the remainder of September, as well as players who are unattached, and, when asked by Press Sport if that was something he was still looking at, McPake said: “There’s more phone calls coming in and players becoming available, but we’ll assess what we’ve got, and what we’re going to need in the next wee while to get us through.
“The injuries coming back will obviously help, but while the window’s open, we’ll continue to look.”
The Pars manager was, however, keen to highlight the performances and contribution of those players who have been called upon in recent weeks following the success at the national stadium, with plenty of attention being given to those not available to him.
“When you can bring on Owen Moffat and Alex Jakubiak, whether you’re chasing a game or trying to see a game out, that’s still a good team that we picked today,” he said.
“The players out are a concern because you’d love to have Kyle Benedictus, Deniz Mehmet, Matty Todd, Kane Ritchie- Hosler, and Paul Allan and Andrew Tod.
“At the minute, we’re still a good team. We’re a bit light, but they’re coming back. Injuries happen in football.
“We’ll get them back and I just hope everybody’s fit. Then I’ll maybe lose sleep having to leave five of those players out, but what a headache that is.”
Victory over the Spiders continued Dunfermline’s impressive form on the road, which has seen them suffer just one away defeat in the league - at Montrose last October - since McPake arrived last summer.
McPake mentioned that the “home record’s not that bad either”, with Raith Rovers last month the only team to inflict a league defeat at East End on his Pars side.
Their win on Saturday also ended a run of four games without a win in all competitions, and McPake added: “To go to Queen’s Park and limit them, really, to what they could do to hurt us, defensively, as a team, I thought we were excellent on Saturday.
“We got the ball back pretty quickly and we shut off spaces really well.
“That’s something we’ve been doing in all games, really, and it has been the odd error here or there, but that’s just the nature of football.
“We need to find ways to eradicate them and just be a better allround team. I think we’re on the right track.
“With the players we’ve got, and the speed and the pace of the team, they’re always going to threat at the top end. That’s happened in every game.
“We have looked pretty dangerous, and it’s maybe been that final pass, or that final decision, that’s maybe been letting us down.
“We’re working on that and we know, with the players we’ve got and the threat that we do have in the team, that, when we get it right, then we’ll hurt other teams.
“We’re also conscious of the fact that we are up a level and that other teams can hurt as well, so we need to be concentrated and switched on.
“At this level, as we saw in the Raith Rovers game, it might only be a chance here or there, and that can be enough to make you come unstuck.
“We’re working hard and we’re trying to get better every day.”