PARS boss Allan Johnston has his sights on bringing in at least two new players in January in a bid to turn their form around.

Saturday’s 5-2 thumping by Queen of the South – a performance Johnston felt was the worst of his reign – leaves Dunfermline without a win in their last six Championship clashes.

They’ve picked up just one maximum in nine and, not only are they 10 points adrift of leaders Dundee United, they’ve dropped out of the play-off places for the first time this season.

Johnston admits that he is under pressure to rediscover Athletic’s promising early form and reignite their campaign and will strengthen his squad when the transfer window opens.

But he also knows he and his players must improve and insists they will identify areas where they “need to do better” to pick up a badly-needed victory.

“We’re desperate to turn it around and everybody’s trying hard to make sure we get the results we need,” Johnston said.

“It’s about everyone pulling together. We need to work together and get the best out of each other.

“But I think a couple of fresh faces would be good to add a bit of competition. We know what we’re looking for and we’re working hard to try and get them but I’m not going to tell the world what we need because there’s still players playing.

“We’re looking to bring in two players and hopefully we can get them on board but sometimes it’s the timing. It depends on what happens at some other clubs as well; teams will try to move players on but need to bring someone else in first, so it’s not easy.

“But we had an honest discussion with the players about where we are and what we need to do better. We need to step up our performances and that starts with everybody individually looking to see what they can do better.

“That comes from us as well because we’re all in the same boat. We’re all at fault, we all need to work harder and we all need to get better.

“You’ve got to look at selection sometimes, even though we’ve not got a lot of players. Is it tactics? I don’t know; it’s not changed much from the start of the season when we were scoring goals and not conceding. Sometimes it’s a loss of form and it’s about how you deal with that.

“Pressure is part of being a manager. You get the plaudits when things go well, and you get stick when things aren’t going so well, but it’s how you handle it and respond to it. It’s not the first time as a player or a manager that I’ve had stick and I’m sure it won’t be the last either.

“I have to show the same as what I’m asking the players to – a wee bit of fight, desire and a belief to get back to where we were.”

Ahead of Saturday’s trip to second-top St Mirren, Johnston, who hoped to have Andy Ryan back in training today (Thursday), has urged his side to prove a point by returning home with a positive result and insists they need the fans to give them their backing.

But he says they have to be given something to shout about and continued: “Confidence is a massive part of football. You hear every manager say how important the fans are and that’s because they are; they give players confidence on the park and can give them an extra wee boost to try and create something.

“You’ve got to make sure you get on the ball and show a bit of character and desire when things aren’t going well to go and prove people wrong. That’s what we’ve got to do.

“The only way we can turn it around is with everybody pulling in the same direction. The fans need to buy into it, and I’m sure they will, but we need to show more on the park, what the club means to the players and give them something to get them off their feet.”