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All games are huge when you’re at the foot of the division, but there’s no doubt this Saturday’s match, against ninth placed Dumbarton, has extra significance.

A win for the Methil men cuts the gap from bottom to second bottom to just three points.

When the two sides met in mid-January, a 2-0 win for the Sons gave them an obvious boost in their hopes of kicking clear of the Fifers.

Seán Dillon holds up Ryan Wallace's route to goal during the weekend's 0-0 draw. Pic by Kenny Mackay

Since then, though, a series of positive performances from Crawford’s side have helped reel Stevie Farrell’s side back.

“The last time we went there it was a big game for us in terms of trying to claw that gap back,” said Crawford.

"Since then we’ve shown different sides to us.

"We’ve dug in and shown a horrible side to take away a point and, equally, we’ve played games where we’ve created some good opportunities in front of goal.

"There’s a belief amongst the squad just now.

"That doesn’t guarantee you anything against Dumbarton but it’s a game I’m looking forward to.

"We’ve no reason to go into the game thinking we can’t win it and get it back to three points.

"That’s not being arrogant or overly confident, but there’s a belief within the squad.

"Albeit we’ve drawn four of them, but in the last six games, we’ve lost only once against Falkirk when we probably should have won.

"I’ll just be asking for more of the same from the boys and just to have a bit of calmness when we’re in possession not to force things try try and exploit where we feel Dumbarton’s weaker points are.”

The Fifers picked up a point from their trip to Montrose at the weekend, returning to Bayview with a 0-0 draw against the 10-men.

"The obvious impact on the game was the red card and you think we’re going to kick on.

"But Montrose got that mentality where they’re digging in for one another and our quality on the ball wasn’t good enough.”

Defender Ross Dunlop and midfielder Ryan Blair will be assessed on injuries they picked up at Links Park this week ahead of Saturday’s match.

'We have the belief' we can see off Dumbarton, says East Fife boss Stevie Crawford