East Fife face 'serious battle' to stay in Scottish League One
Relegation-threatened East Fife face a “serious battle” to stay in Scottish League One with just two matches remaining, admits assistant manager Ian Campbell.
The MGM Timber Bayview side lost 2-0 away to Alloa Athletic last Saturday to drop down to eighth in the third-tier table. And that defeat leaves Dick Campbell’s team just three points above Hamilton Accies in the relegation play-off position.
The full-time Broadwood outfit have won their previous two outings, and they have a much better goal difference than the Fifers do.
Things don’t get any easier for East Fife either – with champions elect Inverness Caley Thistle next up. The Highlands visit Methil this Saturday afternoon.
Speaking after the 2-0 defeat in Clackmannanshire, Fifers’ No 2 Pink didn’t sugarcoat his side’s predicament.
He told East Fife TV: "I thought Alloa deserved to win the game, sadly and disappointingly. We were nothing like ourselves today. The failings of this campaign came to haunt us again, losing some terrible goals.
"And that leaves us with a serious battle in our hands now. It is a hard pill to swallow. We’ll be up for it. We’ll get everyone focused. We have two cup finals now.”
A bumper crowd is expected at Bayview this weekend with Scott Kellecher’s side hoping to clinch the third-tier crown in Fife. The Highlanders are one win away from glory after last Saturday’s results.
And that’s seen an increase in demand for away briefs. The visitors are hoping to bring more than 500 fans to the match.
A spokesperson for the Fifers confirmed that more tickets are likely to be made available to away supporters.
They said: "With regards to away tickets, the initial allocation made available on our website is in line with what has been provided to all visiting teams this season.
“We do have the capacity to increase this, so it’s likely that a further allocation will be released for Inverness supporters.
“However, we’re not able to confirm numbers just yet, as this will depend on the matchday operations team’s assessment of segregation requirements.”
The Fifers travel to Paul Hartley’s Cove Rangers on the final matchday while Hamilton Accies travel to Inverness Caley Thistle.