No stroll in the park warning
Tuesday, 3rd May 2022Josh Edwards: “I’m more than confident that the boys can pull together and we can get the job done.”
Dunfermline full back Josh Edwards has played over 11,000 minutes of senior football but he admits that the next 90 minutes will rank as some of the most important in his career. The 21 year old agreed:-
“It is a big game in terms of the league status. I have played in a few cup games with Dunfermline against the Old Firm but it is definitely one of the most important games that I have been a part of.”
Josh recognises that he will need to dig into all his experience as Dunfermline take on a Queen’s Park side that has players who have played at a higher level:-
“I know a few from playing against them. Bob McHugh upfront was at Morton and scored goals in the Championship for years so we need to make sure that we go into the game under no illusion that it is going to be easy because it definitely is not.
“They have players who have been playing in the Scottish leagues for years so we know exactly what we are up against and be under no illusion that we are going to stroll it.”
Manager John Hughes message to his players has been to embrace the pressure of the play offs and Josh said:-
“In the last few days he has been saying to take it on the chin and get the job done. Make sure that we perform in these next few games and keep ourselves in the league.”
Play offs are not a new experience for Josh who featured in the Premiership play offs last season but he does not want the same abrupt ending to this season:-
“Last year it was a disappointing end to the season. The first game was 0-0 at East End where we played really well and were really unlucky not to go to Stark’s Park with a lead. In the second leg they scored and we were just trying to get ourselves back into the game when they scored a late goal.
“It was a tough one to take to end the season but these play offs are going to be more important for the club than they were last year.
“Queen’s Park have nothing to lose, they will be thinking that they can have a go at us. It is almost a free hit for them to see if they can get themselves promoted. They will believe that they can, I’m sure of it but we need to focus on ourselves and get back to good performances that will hopefully keep us in the division.”
Signed from Airdrieonians in July 2019, Josh was as disappointed as anyone with the defeat at home to Queen of the South but he believed that after he has opened the scoring the team could have gone on to secure a healthy half time lead:-
“To be fair in the first half against Queens we had chances. Kevin had a chance and a few other boys had shots. I don’t think we played that bad in the second half but towards the end there were a few lapses in concentration and we ended up losing the game.”
Dunfermline players are wary of the challenge posed by potential opponents who have finished their season in good form:-
“Teams in the league below - Airdrie are on a really good run, so are Montrose and Queen’s Park have obviously been on a really good run this season - so it is going to be a tough ask but I’m more than confident that the boys can pull together and we can get the job done.”
Josh knows that the Pars are better than they showed against the Doonhamers in the second half and they have a desire to prove doubters wrong:
“There is definitely a sense of that. We know that we can go out and win all the games that we have got left to keep us in the division. So we just need to focus on ourselves, make sure that we are ready and I’m sure that we can do the job and keep us up.”
Something else to get the better of is the Firhill surface which he conceded is a factor:-
“It is not easy but at the end of the day you need to look at it from their perspective as well. They are playing on the same pitch as us so we can’t use that as an excuse. We need to go there, knowing what we are going into and like the gaffer keeps saying, embrace it, go take the game to them and make sure that we come out on top.”
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