Manager on Thursday

13/04/17: AJ - "we should be scoring more goals and taking our chances when they come along.

Allan Johnston is hopeful that by the end of this season the League One Champions from 2016 will have seriously raise the bar. Speaking exclusively to this website he said:-

"We had a good result against Raith Rovers which obviously gave us a big lift. We are disappointed after getting beat (by Dundee United) but we just have to make sure that we are ready for the next game and make sure we get a result.

"You can see the league is still really really tight. I`d rather be in our position than the other teams but it is important that we focus on ourselves, get the results that we need and try and finish the season on a high. We would like to get as many wins as possible to take that fifth place if we can.

"Every year you want to try and improve. This year we have come up a league and if we can finish fifth that would be a good achievement. Then next year we have to try and improve again. You always try and raise the bar and hopefully we can get there."

With four matches left in this Championship season the manager feels that even with teams below them playing each other, he wants to win as many points as possible. In reality a Pars win coupled with defeats to Raith and Ayr on Saturday would be enough barring a massive goal difference swing, to ensure that Dunfermline Athletic will be a Championship club next season. AJ continued:-

"We have a tough run in when you look at the teams we are playing. We are playing against all the top teams but in this league anyone can beat anyone else.

"We have a couple of games at home to look forward to. It is important that we focus on Saturday first and foremost, we must try and get the result and three points at Dumbarton."

In the three matches against Dumbarton this season Dunfermline have scored eleven goals but the Sons of the Rock have a good home record warned the manager:-

"Hopefully we keep the goals coming but they have a really good home record. They seem to get the majority of their points down there. It is a hard place to go. I was talking to a couple of the other teams in the league and they said that the pitch is not great either.

"I am sure that it will be a difficult game but they have majorly improved. The game against us was a bit of a blip because when you look at their results recently they have picked up. They have a lot of good players, they have recruited really well so we know that we are in for a tough one.

"Dumbarton have played in this league for a number of years now and they know what it takes to get results to stay in the league. Sometimes you look to see where they are going to get their results from. They always seem to get them.

"We definitely cannot take them for granted. They will be desperate to catch us as well, so it is a big game for both clubs. It is one that we are looking forward to."

Dunfermline may have scored five against Dumbarton at the start of last month but in the seven matches since then they have scored just four times. The manager felt that the results were more important.

"We have managed a couple of wins recently with a draw in the middle. We have defended a lot better, we are not losing goals. We have created enough chances, we should be scoring more goals and taking our chances when they come along.

"On Tuesday night against Dundee United we didn`t take our chances. You have to score from chances like that. Against good teams you don`t get loads and loads of chances. When they come along you have got to be clinical and take them."

The Pars strikers have been out of luck of late but the manager felt that they were not solely at fault.

"Everybody has to chip in with goals, even the centre halves have got to score more goals from corners and free kicks. You are looking for midfield players with shots from outside the box, we have not scored a lot of goals from outside the box this year. That is something that we have to improve on."

On the injury front, a few players took knocks on Tuesday night but the majority will be fine according to the gaffer. John Herron is not 100% fit yet. Ben Richards-Everton is doing passing, a lot of running, twisting and turning to build up his fitness gradually.

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