DEFIANT Allan Johnston has urged supporters not to panic over Dunfermline’s league position but says his players are out to prove a point.

There was frustration all around East End Park after Saturday’s loss to Ayr United that leaves Athletic just five points above the trapdoor but the Pars boss has pleaded with fans to get behind the side in the run-in.

A difficult trip to a Morton side that have the league’s only unbeaten home record awaits Johnston’s team on Saturday and, while he admitted they’re league position is not good enough, he believes the players can handle a testing situation with backing from the stands.

Speaking to Press Sport this week, he said: “We know it’s not a position that we should be in but we are where we are, and we have to manage that and make sure we deal with that situation. It’s up to us to get the results but the last thing we can do is panic. Every club is the same; everybody wants to win every game and so do we. We’re trying our best to do that but we’re all disappointed as well because we should be in a better position. It was always going to be a hard season coming but there’s no point in setting a target of just staying up; you want to set your targets as high as possible.

“Everybody likes to criticise but, at the end of the day, you look at the game and we were by far the better team. We had the most chances but they were up the park twice and scored once. We’ve got to defend the goal better but we had loads of chances and got into great areas.

“We’ve got to get a shot away quicker and make sure we work the keeper because that was all that was lacking. It’s that wee bit of composure or that final pass that wee need to improve on but we’ve said that for a while now because there’s a lot of games we’ve drawn that we should quite clearly have won with the chances we’ve had.

“You can’t be so dominant and not win the game and I think the players have a point to prove. Sometimes you get a bit of criticism and it’s how you react to that, and I’m sure the players are desperate to show what they’re made of.

“The league’s tight and it’s down to us to handle the situation but I’d rather be in our position than St Mirren’s. We’re as frustrated as anyone else but we need everybody pulling together. The fans have been great this year but we need them more than ever just now because it does make a massive difference.”

Johnston, who will assess the fitness of Paul McMullan, Andy Geggan and Lewis Martin ahead of Saturday, continued: “I know everybody is desperate to get a win but we need the fans to get behind the players; there’s nothing worse when people start getting on people’s backs. We need them to encourage the players because they’re the ones on the pitch who can make a difference. It’s all about confidence; I’ve been a player myself and sometimes you pick the wrong option because you’re desperate to get a good result but you’ve just got to try and blank out what’s going on round about you, and have that composure and show you can handle the situation.

“We were in the right areas and more often than not you’ll get goals if you do that but we’ve got to learn to remain composed and have to be mentally tough. Everyone’s urging you on to go forward but that’s when you’ve got to pick the right pass, be patient, keep getting between people and hopefully the goal will come.

“If you’re not creating chances and losing goals, you know you’ve got a big job, but in the majority of games we’ve created enough chances and defended well enough to win games. The players realise we’ve massive games coming up and everyone wants to show that we’re better than that.”