JOHN HUGHES has told his Pars players that they can't feel sorry for themselves ahead of the first installment of their play-off showdown.

The Dunfermline boss also admitted that he understood supporters' anger on Friday night but says they'll need them when they tackle Queen's Park in their Championship play-off semi-final.

Athletic went into the final game of a disappointing Championship season with already relegated Queen of the South knowing that they needed a favour from Partick Thistle at Ayr United, combined with a positive result, to escape ninth place.

Josh Edwards' goal gave them a dream start but, almost as soon as he had scored, word filtered through that the Honest Men had taken the lead at Somerset Park.

A win for former Par Lee Bullen's team rendered Dunfermline's result meaningless and, as Ayr found themselves 2-0 up at half-time, before going on to win 3-1, Hughes' team saw their advantage wiped out.

A Joe Chalmers own goal, and Darragh O’Connor's header, saw the Doonhamers take the points, which prompted a frustrated reaction from the 5,406 crowd that had packed into East End.

It means that Dunfermline now face Queen's Park, who finished fourth in League One, for the right to face either Airdrieonians or Montrose to determine who will be playing second tier football next term.

The first leg with the Spiders takes place at Firhill tomorrow (Wednesday), before Saturday's return, for which Dunfermline have revised ticket prices following an outcry by fans at their original pricing.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Hughes was asked about the mood in the Pars camp, and he replied: "Very good to be fair to them. You could sense the disappointment from the result and second half performance on Friday night.

"But there’s no point feeling sorry for yourself, we’ve still got a job to do.

"We’ve addressed that already. We’ve prepared them very well - off on Saturday, in on Sunday, trained a lot better on Monday and we’ll train again on Tuesday. Then bring it on on Wednesday.

"We’re under no illusion how difficult it’s going to be. We’ve had Queen’s Park watched a few times. They’ve got some right good players in there and they’re well organised, and they play with a good energy - so we’ll have to stand up to that.

"I don’t think it will be won in any shape or form on Wednesday night, but we want to make sure it’s not lost also.

"There’s all that to take into account and you have to go and stand up to it and embrace the pressure that comes with it. And you have to have a pride in your performance to make sure you’re on top form.

"If that’s the case and we can all get to that and have that mindset then hopefully it’s enough to win us the match."

When the reaction of the club's fans to Friday night's performance and result was put to him, Hughes replied: "It’s understandable. The fans would not have been any more disappointed and frustrated and angered than myself, especially after what I saw in the first-half. I thought, ‘we’re right at it here’.

"But the second-half performance was a little bit alarming. I’m not shying away from that.

"You wonder if that result from Ayr United got into the dressing-room, I’m quite sure it did, but that’s not an excuse. You still have to have a pride in your performance.

"We owed it to the supporters to go out and perform in the second-half.

"Any time you get a wee bit of bad news or a wee dunt, you can’t go under, you have to stand up to it. In fact, it has to energise you. So that’s something we’ve addressed as well.

"And the fans are entitled to show their displeasure. That’s part and parcel of football.

"When we give them everything we’ve got and we’re winning football matches, then it goes the other way.

"But come Wednesday we’ll need the supporters.

"It’s good to get a bit of discount on the prices, just to help the fans out. We’ve come out of Covid, the club are fully aware of that, and if we can help the fans in any shape or form then that’s great."

Tickets for Pars fans for tomorrow night's match are available in the John Lambie Stand, and are priced £15 for adults, £10 for concessions (65+), and £5 for concessions (15-and-under).

No cash gates will be available. To buy, click here.