ATHLETIC weren’t as “fluent” as they’re used to last Saturday but their manager felt that their commitment couldn’t be questioned.

James McPake said that he couldn’t be too hard on his players following Saturday’s scoreless draw with FC Edinburgh, which extended their advantage at the top of the table to nine points.

Although he said immediately after the game that it was probably “our worst performance of the season”, he credited Dunfermline’s opponents for their efforts to share the spoils which, following second-placed Falkirk’s loss at Queen of the South, allowed the leaders to to further clear with eight games to go.

“It wasn’t as fluent a performance as we’re used to,” McPake said.

“In that though, I don’t think the effort or the commitment of the players can be questioned. It wasn’t down to that; it was just maybe a final ball at times, or we didn’t take the chances when they came our way. There wasn’t too many in the game, but we didn’t take them.

“You get those days but they gave maximum effort, and they gave everything for the shirt, so we can’t criticise them too much.

“It’s disappointing any time we don’t win a game, we know that, but every other team wants to win as well. Teams make it hard for you.

“I thought Edinburgh were decent on the day as well, so it was a tough game, as we knew it was going to be, and if we could’ve just maybe taken a chance, it would’ve maybe opened the game up a bit, but that’s football.”

The performance of Kane Ritchie-Hosler, described as “excellent” by McPake, a first 90 minutes completed by Paul McGowan, and a first appearance since August for Paul Allan, were plus points for the manager to take away.

“It’s a good week for both of them because they both played 90 on the Tuesday, then Paul Allan got 45 on the Saturday, and Gowser got another 90,” he added.

“The two of them are getting up to a good level of fitness now, and they’ll be key players for us between now and the end of the season.”

This weekend, they travel to Montrose, managed by Pars legend, Stewart Petrie, and he is backing his old club to get out of League One and progress further.

Petrie, who spent a decade at the club, inflicted his old team’s only league defeat of the season in October, between two losses at East End.

Prior to the latter of those, at the beginning of last month, he told Press Sport: “The town and the club deserve to be higher up than League One, there’s no doubt about that.

“If it’s not us that win the league, I hope it’s Dunfermline this year, that’s for sure, and then they can kick on. They don’t want to be kicking around too long in the lower leagues, because they’re too big a club, and they’re too good a club, and the fanbase is massive.

“Hopefully they can get back to their right position as soon as they possibly can.”