East Fife stay upbeat ahead of crunch Dumbarton encounter

East Fife's Jamie Semple comes under pressure from Callum Fordyce during the weekend's defeat. Pic by Kenny Mackay

But he and his squad won’t dwell on the 3-0 loss, with the gaffer keen to draw a line under it and turn attention fully to Saturday’s trip to Dumbarton.

Crawford says a positive attitude and a couple of lively training sessions are absolutely crucial for his squad ahead of their trip west.

The importance of Saturday’s match is clear for all to see, East Fife knowing a win will haul them to within touching distance of the second bottom Sons.

A defeat will, sadly, cut the Fifers even further adrift at the foot of League One.

The manager said: “It’s never nice being detached at the bottom of the league, I’ve experienced it as a player.

"Body language is a big thing for me because, if you start feeling sorry for yourself, it rubs off on other people.

"I don’t want to see that dripping into the team.

"Whether you’re at the top of the league, middle or bottom you have to show you’re up for the fight.

"People don’t just give you points.

"Whether they got on or Saturday or whether they were stripped, I want the squad as a whole to watch the game back because there were things that I saw that I didn’t like as a manager.

"We’ll have a brief meeting before training and I like the players being able to speak up.

"I’ll get a couple of things off my chest and then we have to be upbeat and go into training and have a really lively session.

"If we win we claw it back to two points and if Dumbarton win they step away from us.

"A draw is no good really to either side so we have to make sure that we’re up for that battle.

"It’ll be a game where both sides want the win under their belts to get the feel good factor of that brings.”

Saturday’s game at Airdrie saw East Fife start badly, losing a goal after just a couple of minutes, before the Diamonds added another two before the interval.

“I looked at the goals we lost and the chances we created and that’s where games are won and lost,” added the manager. Ross Davidson will return to the fold as will striker Kyle Connell.