STEVIE CRAWFORD insists a lack of firepower in recent matches isn’t a cause for concern but admits his team need to sharpen up in attack.

Saturday’s stalemate with Ayr United, which was their fifth draw in seven league matches, was the second successive blank they’ve drawn, having failed to score only once in their previous 16 matches in all competitions.

They remain second in the Championship but, after leaders Hearts thumped Raith Rovers 4-0 on Tuesday night, the Pars are nine points adrift – albeit with a game in hand, against Rovers next Wednesday – ahead of today's trip to Tynecastle.

Crawford, who said that the club was continuing to work to try to add to the January additions of Kyle MacDonald and Scott Banks, pointed out that his side had conceded just once in their last four outings, but conceded they need to how more threat in the final third than against the Honest Men.

Dunfermline Press:

The Pars coudn't find a route to goal last week.

Asked if he was worried by the lack of goals recently, he replied: “No, definitely not.

“The hardest thing in the world is putting the ball in the back of the net.

“I think Ayr made a couple of changes at the back on Saturday so was that to combat what we were going to throw at them?

“We tried to play with the two wider players higher at the weekend, with Declan (McManus) through the middle, so in essence we were playing three up front rather than two central ones.

“Did it come off the way that we’d hoped? No, when I look back on it. I’m not going to sit here and say that we cut them open at the back.

“We’ve worked on that in parts of the week and, as I say, it’s just getting that feel-good factor when you’re getting into the final third of the pitch, and you’re trying to create goalscoring opportunities.”

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Prior to their win in Kirkcaldy, the Jambos were beaten at home 3-2 by the same opponents last Saturday, and Crawford is confident his team’s record – which, with 13 goals conceded, is only bettered by Inverness, who have played three games fewer – can give them solid foundations to try to earn a first league win in Gorgie in nearly 31 years.

“It is going to be a tough week for us, let’s not kid ourselves on,” Crawford continued.

“We’re facing Hearts on their own patch, then we’ll face Raith Rovers on the Wednesday night, and then we’ve got Arbroath the following Saturday. They will cause us problems so we’ll have to be resolute, strong, work and make sure we’re not giving them opportunities to get easy possession of the football.

"I think Hearts and Raith are the top goalscorers in the league, we've got to make sure we're ready for that, but on the flip side of it, teams that score goals also open themselves up more in terms of their attacking play.

“We’ve got to concentrate on ourselves and not lose our focus on what other teams are doing. For as much as we’ve not scored in the last two games, I think we’ve conceded one goal in four.

“We’re sitting second in the league, so there’s a platform. We’re looking solid defensively and now it’s about whether we can put that finishing touch and start to score goals again.”

Tynecastle Park is, under normal circumstances, one of Scotland's most atmospheric areans, which Crawford knows only too well.

He worked with their boss, Robbie Neilson, during his first stint as the Jambos boss, which saw them win the Championship title in 2015 and sit second in the Premiership by the time the pair left for MK Dons in December 2016.

No fans, unfortunately, will be present this afternoon but Hearts' home form remains formidable.

Last weekend's reverse to Raith is the only blot on their copybook, having won their other five games at home, where they have scored 27 goals and conceded 11.

Dunfermline, however, are unbeaten on the road and have conceded just seven goals in six outings.

It will be Crawford's first return since leaving Gorgie and, asked if the ground is one that lifts players, he added: "From that side of it, I can't speak on that because I've never went back as a manager where there's going to be fans in the building, and it's going to be the first experience of going back to Tynecastle.

"I enjoyed my spell at Hearts. We managed to win the Championship, get ourselves into the Premiership and compete at  the top end of that table.

"It's an environment that will be different because I feel the crowd are on top of the players when you play at Tynecastle, and it can quite hostile at times, but it can also be a stadium you like to go and enjoy playing your football.

"For as much as we're looking solid at the moment, we know the tasks and the problems we have to try and overcome in terms of trying to look a little bit more dangerous in the final third of the park just now.

"Our focus is very much on ourselves and not Hearts."

Press Sport will be at Tynecastle to bring you the action via our live blog.