WINNING breeds confidence and belief is flowing through the Pars squad after an unbeaten start to the season.

With five clean sheets from their opening six matches into the bargain, it's little wonder that goalkeeper Deniz Mehmet and his backline have complete trust in each other.

The 29-year-old has kept seven shut-outs from 10 matches in all competitions so far, just three fewer than Dunfermline managed throughout the whole of last season, while it took them until the end of January to register the number they have collected up to now.

Ironically, the magnificent seventh clean sheet in both this campaign and the last came in 2-0 victories at Queen of the South, the latest of which put Athletic top of League One in their bid to bounce straight back to the Championship.

Mehmet has also already surpassed the number of appearances he made last term, under Peter Grant and John Hughes, this time around under James McPake, who he credits for their promising start as much as the hard yards being put in by his team-mates in and out of possession.

"They've been really working hard," he explained.

"The off-the-ball thing is sometimes more important than what you can do on the ball, and the hard work on the ball, so it's been a lot of that. That's also come from what we've worked on with the manager as well.

"No disrespect to the previous managers, absolutely not, I just think the key things the manager wants off us now is just constant hard work, keeping the numbers up as much as we can for the mileage that the boys cover in games, and the distances they cover.

"That's a big factor. I'm like a broken record but the boys work so hard, and absolute credit to them. They just keep going at it and are relentless, and that's what we need.

"It's one thing the manager says as well; be a horrible team to play against, and that's what he wants us to be. I think we are doing that this year; we weren't that last year. It was quite passive, we were giving easy opportunities away to the other teams, and giving sloppy goals away, whereas now we're a lot tighter and just trying to minimise that by being a horrible team.

"It's not a nice thing to say but that's what you have to be, unfortunately!"

When asked about confidence between himself and his defence, Mehmet continued: "It's working really well. It feels like it's a strong unit; it definitely does to me.

"I have every confidence in the boys in front of me, not just the back four, or whatever we're going to play at the weekend; a back three, a back five. I have full confidence in all the team.

"You can't perform maybe to the best of your ability week-in, week-out, but you know they're going to give 100 per cent all the time. I have full trust in them and I hope they have the same trust in me.

"It's nice to have the five clean sheets in six games. It's a good record to have but they are as much responsible for it, possibly even more, than I am. I would always say that.

"They're giving absolutely nothing away. They're chucking themselves in front of the ball – same as I am, obviously – but there was a couple of blocks against Queen of the South where the boys are just diving at it. It's good to see that in front of me. It gives me a boost when I see them blocking shots, and I'm sure it gives them a boost when I have a chance to make a save, and I do.

"It's just good that everyone is chipping in."

With four wins and two draws, Dunfermline are League One's only unbeaten team, and sit two points clear at the summit.

As they prepare to welcome bitter rivals Falkirk, smarting from a 2-0 defeat at Kelty Hearts in their last outing, this Saturday, the Pars are one of only four teams across the SPFL – the others being Celtic, Ayr United and Dumbarton – yet to taste defeat in the league.

"It's a good start we've had," Mehmet observed.

"The two draws we've had, away at Kelty, that was a difficult one; they made it very hard for us. Airdrie, that was a tough one a little bit because they scored the late equaliser, and then we got the goal chalked off which you think you've got the winner, and the ref blows the whistle, so that's a tough one to take.

"Two decent points we got in those draws. We'd like to win those games but you can't win every game.

"It's a tough league and teams are always going to make it difficult for us. It's just about trying not to get too carried away with everything."