Jim McIntyre issues challenge to Dunfermline as he sees chance to climb the table

Published on Friday 17 February 2012 02:40

Dunfermline Athletic manager Jim McIntyre has challenged his players to capitalise on Saturday’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League visit of Inverness Caledonian Thistle by moving off the foot of the table.

The Pars are one point adrift of Hibernian, who face league leaders Celtic on Sunday, at the bottom of the table and will leapfrog their Edinburgh rivals if they pick up their first home win of the season.

Dunfermline have drawn five times in 13 matches on their own soil this term and McIntyre is desperate for his side to earn that long-awaited victory. He explained: “It’s a chance for us to move off the bottom of the table with Hibs playing on Sunday. I think we have to worry about ourselves and get the results that move us up the table.

“The only way a relegation battle is going to involve other teams is by us winning games to drag other teams back into it. Teams won’t fall back to us. We’ve got to win games.

“It’s win the next game, that’s the mindset. Win what is in front of us and that starts on Saturday with a really tough match.”

Saturday’s meeting in Fife will be the fifth time the teams have faced each other this season.

Following two draws in the league, it took a replay to separate the Pars and the Highland outfit in the Scottish Cup when Caley emerged as 3-1 victors.

McIntyre added: “We’ve had close affairs with Inverness this season and I think this is the fifth time we’ve faced each other.

“The squads are quite evenly matched. They’ve been on a good run and we’ve got to try to do what they’ve done – put a few results together and climb that table.”

McIntyre will have no qualms about fielding on-loan Rangers midfielder Kyle Hutton on Saturday, just days after his parent club entered administration.

McIntyre said: “Of course Kyle is in my plans. He is a Dunfermline player until the end of the season, that’s why we brought him here. We brought him here to play games and he’ll certainly be involved at some stage.”

Caley Thistle manager Terry Butcher says that East End Park is a happy hunting ground for his side and has challenged his players to battle for a top-six spot.

“If you take the two Celtic matches out of our recent run, it’s a good spell we’re having,” said Butcher. “We want to continue that with three points on Saturday. It could move us up the table, but it would certainly keep us more in touch for a real crack at the top six.

“We certainly enjoy going to East End Park. While we haven’t played particularly brilliant football there, we still have taken some good results.

“We’ve been undefeated and in the cup, eventually, we came away with a win.”

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