The New Bayview men square up to the league's bottom two clubs this week, starting at Arbroath tonight (Wednesday) before Clyde on Saturday, with the gaffer in no doubt about the importance of both games.

Victory in both will see the Fifers surge up the league and back into promotion reckoning, while defeat will drag Crawford's men into relegation mire.

The manager said: "It's in our own hands either to get the results and kick on and climb the league, or we could be back down staring at relegation.

"It'll be a test for us to see where we're going to be at the end of the season.

"Arbroath have brought in Jim Weir as manager and a few of their players have been moved, like Robbie Raeside.

"They got beaten 4-1 at the weekend so will be keen to come out the traps against us and make up for that, so we need to be aware of that.

"John Brown has moved on from Clyde and John McCormack is in charge there now, and he's somebody who's highly respected in football.

"They've also brought in John Stewart from Peterhead, who I know from Aberdeen, and he's a very good finisher.

"We know how big these games will be."

East Fife go into the game on the back of two draws against the division's top two sides, Cowdenbeath and Stirling Albion, and the manager reckons he's seeing an improvement in his men.

"It's been pleasing to see the boys are taking on board what we're saying to them and looking to get on the ball more," added Crawford.

"We're passing the ball about a lot better now, and although both Cowdenbeath and Stirling did have spells where they came back into the game, I still think we're playing some decent stuff."

Bob Campbell, below, returned from injury against Stirling by taking his place on the bench, while Scott Thomson and Paul Nugent are still thought to be at least a couple of weeks away from first team action.

Mark Staunton has had an operation on his back injury, however, the utility man has suffered a reaction and may be missing for some time.