PARS boss Jim Jefferies has heaped praise on his defensive unit after they secured their seventh shut-out of the season on Saturday.

Ahead of Morton’s visit to East End on Saturday, Dunfermline are yet to concede a league goal at home and have lost just five in their opening 10 games.

That impressive record is already as many as they kept in the whole of last season’s league campaign and Jefferies believes it is testament to the work his players have carried out in learning from their mistakes.

He singled out goalkeeper Ryan Scully as a key element behind their mean defence after he produced a sensational show to deny Forfar Athletic as his backline suffered a rare difficult afternoon.

He said, “Saturday was one of the reasons why we tried to keep him for another year. He has always been good, has been very consistent and never let us down. Sometimes there have been games where he has not had a lot to do - like at Stirling Albion where we hadn’t scored despite having plenty of chances - and they get one and he makes a good save. To keep his concentration level is the mark of a good goalkeeper and we are fortunate to have him.

“But the proof is there that defensively we are learning from our mistakes when you look at the number of clean sheets we’ve had, especially when we only had eight or nine in the whole of the previous season.” With former Par Andy Barrowman in attack, Jefferies will hope that his defenders are on top form as they seek revenge on a Morton side who disposed of the Pars at Cappielow last month in a game he described as their “worst performance of the season.” He added, “Morton played very well but we nearly got a draw after getting a break with the penalty. We’ve learned from that and since then we’ve been on a good run and we’ve got to try and use being at home to our advantage.” Jefferies received a boost on Tuesday night as Ryan Thomson played in the under-20s match with St Mirren after suffering a hamstring tear, while Allan Smith played in his second match as he steps up his recovery from tonsilitis. Stuart Urquart was described as “50-50” to play on Tuesday but started due to a shortage of numbers and came through unscathed. All three will be in contention for Saturday with Ryan Wallace continuing to be the manager’s only long-term absentee.