‘We don’t need extra motivation for derby’
Pars pay tribute to ‘Iron Man’ Jim MacLean – Page 55
Ross Hart REPORTER
EWAN OTOO believes that Saturday’s Fife derby is the ideal occasion for Athletic bounce back from recent defeats as they “don’t need any extra motivation”.
Dunfermline make the short trip to Kirkcaldy to tackle Raith Rovers aiming to pick up a first victory over their rivals this season at the third attempt.
Six points separate Ian Murray’s second-placed high-fliers from James McPake’s side, who are seventh, having lost their last two games against Partick Thistle and Ayr United – and Otoo thinks a visit to Stark’s Park is an ideal game to try and return to winning ways.
“We don’t dwell too much on winning, so we’re not going to dwell too much on losing either,” he told Press Sport.
“It’s a perfect game that we don’t need any extra motivation for; all the motivation’s already there. This is probably the most ideal game we could’ve had coming up.
“We’ve experienced it a couple of times now and we’ve seen how much it means to the fans, which makes it mean a lot to us as well. We’re looking to, first and foremost, put out a better performance for the fans, and hopefully with a better performance comes a better result. That’s our main focus for the weekend.”
Otoo, who has made 13 appearances so far this season, admitted that turning the tables on Raith after their previous meeting – a 1-0 loss at East End – is “a big thing” for the players, adding: “On that day, that result hurt us because I didn’t think we deserved to lose the game.
“Those are the moments and the feelings that you bottle up and then, when you have the opportunity to put it right, like we will on Saturday, we’ll go and look to put it right.”
Boss McPake is also looking for a much-improved display from his players when they take to the field on Saturday.
“We know the performance level needs to be better and we’ll work hard to get that right,” he said.
“As I’ve said before, these players have been great for us. We’re a young squad, so we’re going to have dips, we’re going to have off days.
“I’ve full belief in this squad, and it’s my job, the coaching staff’s job, to work with them daily, progress them, and help them in their careers. The good thing about them is they’re all still desperate to learn.
“We’re going to have setbacks, we’re going to lose games – that’s part and parcel of football – it’s just * how you react from that.”
McPake added that Rhys Breen would be monitored after suffering “flu-like symptoms” which saw him withdrawn at half-time against Ayr, but was likely to returning to training Wednesday (yesterday) or Thursday.
He expects his squad for the game to remain unchanged, whilst he said Kyle Benedictus is at “end stage rehab” and that Matty Todd could be back in training in the next couple of weeks.
“He’s doing well,” McPake said of Benedictus. “It’s just good to have him out and about running on the grass or wherever we’re training, and being back involved in little parts of training. It’s good to see him out and about.
“Matty’s doing really well. He’s a wee bit ahead of Kane (Ritchie-Hosler). Matty was actually doing some passing on Tuesday as well, so he’s not too far away.
“Kane’s not a million miles behind him either, but we’ll take our time with those two, and hopefully we’ll see Matty in the next couple of weeks, certainly back full training, and Kane not too far behind him.”