McIntyre calls for home improvement

DUNFERMLINE manager Jim McIntyre has challenged his players to atone for their worst display of the season and to end their barren home form.

The Pars host Aberdeen tomorrow looking for their first win at East End Park since returning to the SPL.

Dunfermline have picked up ten points on the road to stay above Aberdeen going into tomorrow’s clash but their away form deserted them at Pittodrie in September as they lost 4-0.

McIntyre said: “We want to get our first home win and get the monkey off our backs. Aberdeen gave us a spanking at their place and that’s something we’ll be looking to re-address.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, that was our worst performance of the season. Aberdeen were excellent on the night but we were equally as poor. We’ll be looking to get our first home win and win the game to keep us in front of them.

“You want to have a good home record, that’s what served us well last season in gaining promotion.”

McIntyre is looking for his players to make a better start than they did in Wednesday night’s 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park, when loose passes from Paul Willis and Alex Keddie saw them two goals behind inside 13 minutes. But the Dunfermline manager was satisfied with their response, with Andrew Barrowman’s late goal causing Celtic a nervous finale.

“Some of the stuff we played was very good, we passed the ball very well,” McIntyre said. “What we can do is improve in the final third and also stop gifting goals.”

“Individual errors can only be solved by individuals,” added McIntyre, who has Martin Hardie and Nick Phinn available after injury. “We can show them but nine times out of ten the players know themselves. Everyone makes mistakes.”