Chris Hamilton and Alex Jakubiak fit for return against the Spiders.
Manager James McPake reflected on the 2-1 loss to Airdrieonians last Saturday saying “We were bitterly disappointed in terms of the performance. We stand by what we said post match that we got out of the game what we deserved. Sometimes you go away and watch games back and see that you were better than we thought but that wasn’t the case. It was a poor performance all round from myself and all the way through the team.
“We move on from that game on to this week, we just need to concentrate on the next game and go out and get our performance right first and foremost.”
Always was a fight on two fronts
With a Premiership play-off place out of reach now, James stressed that points still need to be won to avoid the play-offs at the other end of the table and there are league places to play for. The outcome of the match on Saturday at home against Queen’s Park can have an influence in the destiny of both clubs but as he pointed out in addition to Queen’s, Ayr United, Morton and Inverness Caley Thistle are all immersed in the battle for places 5 to 9 in the cinch Championship.
“It is a big game and as much as the talk was about going to beat Airdrie to try and get into the promotion play offs, we knew that we also had at the back of our minds, like every fan of most teams in this league, that the way this league is, you are fighting on two fronts most of the time.
“Take the top four away everybody else is done with three games to go in terms of the top end. Arbroath’s fate is confirmed now but every other team is still fighting. Historically this league is like that, a bunch of teams going into the last game. Going into the last game last season there was only Raith Rovers with nothing to play for other than that game.
“It is a dangerous game with Queen’s Park coming here. They will be hurting off the back of a defeat to Inverness and they are desperate for points but so are we. We are hurting off the back of losing that game and in the manner we lost it. We want to put that performance right particularly being back at home.”
Still one game at a time
“Football is like that. When you have won two games in a row you are desperate to make it three and then build on that to carry on the momentum. When you are playing well you are desperate to continue that but flip it when you have a poor performance you are desperate to put it right. You are always just looking to that next game.
“I will use Arbroath as an example, yeah they know their fate but they will be looking ahead to the game never wanting to waste a game of football. You want to go into that to get something out of it whether you are a player, a coach or a manager. Ultimately that’s the performance that you have been working on all week on the training pitch. If you can add bits of quality like we have seen throughout the season with special moments then great.
“On the whole the performance needs to be better. It is the only one that we can concentrate on, I’m pretty consistent with that. We are concentrating on this game and we know that it is another tough, tough game against a team coming fighting for their lives who will be scrapping and scraping to do everything they can to go away from here with three points. We need to stand up to that.”
Confirming League status
Knowing as soon as possible which league his team will be in next season would help James and his recruitment team plan for next season. A win over Queen’s Park would consolidate the Pars in the Championship.
“When I speak of people like Lee Ashcroft and Zak Rudden, you can see for footballing reasons why they would choose to go to Raith. Teams will have play offs but we are trying to do our business as best we can at the minute. It would certainly help knowing what division we are in, knowing that at least we are going to be in the Championship.
“I will be brutally honest, when you are speaking to those players at the point when we were ninth, if you are him looking at that or at a team that is first or second in the league comparing with a team that is ninth, that will turn your eye to that team thinking you can go play there and win a title.
“We become level with most teams if we secure a place in this division, that’s the aim that we set at the start of the season with everyone. That was to get to get to 40 points, we have done that but 40 points is probably not looking to be enough this season. We need a bit more but when I say the aim, we were never going to be delighted by just surviving. We wanted to progress and I believe that we have progressed in certain aspects. Injuries have been a problem but that’s something to look at over the summer and see what can be done better in that sense. I think we have progressed but we need to make sure that we are in this division next season.”
Player Availability
James confirmed that Alex Jakubiak has recovered from the strain that kept him out of the match at Airdrie last week:-
“He is training, as is Chris Hamilton who has been a huge huge miss. In games like last Saturday, I don’t think that we would have lost in the same manner we did had we had Hammy in the team just for what he brings. They are both back.
“Ben Summers season is done, he is back at Celtic getting rehab. Paul Allan is doing well and will be available next week. Paul will be back training on Monday and I think Aaron will be back training next week as well, he was trying to get back this week. I’m not quite sure when Wighty will be back training but they are all doing well.”
Reserve Cup Final Tuesday 23rd April
James acknowledged the achievement of the club’s reserve side to make the cinch SPFL Reserve Cup Final for the second season in a row. Asked how strong a team he might put out on Tuesday night at Almondvale he stated:
“I want it to be another experience for the younger ones. Would some of the older ones play? If they need the game time, yeah. There is a few in that category and like we did a couple weeks ago, could play some that could be doing with a game again.”
