Reaction needed at East End Park, says Wedderburn

Nat Wedderburn admits Dunfermline owe their fans a performance and a result to be proud of against Inverness today after their midweek embarrassment.

The Pars took on Rangers with hope of a shock on Wednesday night but were humbled 6-0 in a sobering Betfred Cup tie at Ibrox.

The heavy defeat, coupled with a poor display in drawing 1-1 with Livingston in last weekend’s Championship opener, has sucked out some of the early-season optimism that surrounded the club after their penalty shoot-out success against Hearts and big wins over Elgin City and Peterhead.

However, Wedderburn insists the Fifers are ready to take on board the lessons of Ibrox and put them into practice against his old club.

He said: “It was a hard shift against Rangers. I think the way we need to look at it is that it’s a learning curve for us.

“We’ve just got to learn from the mistakes we made and try to put them right against Inverness.

“I don’t think we’re going to come up against many teams of that quality in our league.

“So, if we can put them right then I’m sure we’ll win more games than we lose.

“They were a lot quicker and a lot sharper. That’s what you’re going to get when you play teams of that quality.

“It’s obviously difficult to take positives, but from every defeat you learn and it’s up to us now as a group to bounce back.

“The fans deserve a better performance. They came out in their numbers on Wednesday night and we owe them not just a result but a performance as well.

“We need a reaction. Wednesday night was disappointing but we’ve just got to regroup, stick together and get back to the levels we’re capable of.”

Wedderburn, who began his career at Stoke City and played for England under-19s, joined Inverness, the then Scottish Cup holders, in 2015 after two years with Cowdenbeath.

He expects his former team to push hard for an instant return to the Premiership, but hopes Dunfermline can make the most of their first game at East End Park in three weeks.

“The onus is on us to get on the front foot early, being the home team, and we fancy beating anyone at our place,” he said.

Picture: SNS. Nat Wedderburn, right, says Dunfermline can learn from the defeat to Rangers.