HUGHES TELLS PARS TO EMBRACE THE PRESSURE

DUNFERMLINE boss John Hughes has urged his players to keep the faith as they bid to escape the clutches of a dreaded relegation play-off. The Pars host already-doomed Queen of the South tonight sitting in secondbottom spot and with their Championship future still firmly on the line. If Ayr United in eighth win at home to Partick Thistle, it does not matter what the Fifers do at East End Park. But if the Honest Men slip up, then a victory for Dunfermline will be enough for them to avoid a shoot-out with League One’s hopefuls to retain their second-tier status. A draw for the Pars may even be enough to leapfrog Lee Bullen’s side if Ayr were to lose and Hughes’ side bettered their rivals’ goal difference or goals scored tally. The Pars were tipped last summer to fight it out for promotion to the Premiership but have instead had to face the harsh realities of a desperate battle for Championship survival. Dunfermline have been out of the relegation zone for only five weeks and for 15 weeks they have been rock bottom. But, unbeaten at home this year, and with just five defeats from their last 15 matches, Hughes — who took over in mid-November after the sacking of Peter Grant — has urged his players to cope with the magnitude of what lies ahead.

He said: ‘It’s been a season that no one wanted, but it is what it is. For us to give ourselves that fighting chance, we need to stay positive. We need to keep trusting each other, keep believing in each other and keep helping each other along. I want my players to embrace the pressure. When I came in here, they were lacking confidence. When you’re lacking confidence, you’re not winning games. We had to get a belief in them, bring it together again, and I’ve had a fantastic response. Now we’re in these pressure games, at the bottom end of the table and we need to handle it. I can tell you, through my own experience, there’s times in that situation and you think that it’s all about you. It’s only years later, when you look at it, you feel embarrassed, because you should’ve been a better team-mate, you should’ve had a better focus, a better attitude, a better lifestyle. If you’re not, you’re only cheating yourself, or you’re cheating

your club and your team-mates.’