Dunfermline boss Jim Jefferies insists he will approach Saturday’s match against his old side Hearts just like any other.
The 61-year-old was sacked by the Tynecastle outfit at the start of this season, ending his second spell in charge of the Edinburgh club.
He insists he harbours no hard feelings, however he will still be determined to mastermind a victory for the Pars as they look to close the gap on second bottom Hibs who don’t play until 24 hours later to three points.
He said: ”It wouldn’t make it any sweeter to get a victory because it is against Hearts – that’s got nothing to do with it at all.
”There is no animosity between us. They are a great club but I think we all understand that we need to get a result for Dunfermline.
”We want to get the three points while they will have their own agenda, trying to get as high up the league as possible.
”We will need to be at our best because Hearts can beat anyone on their day, although they have shown some inconsistency away from home and we need to be ready to capitalise on that.
”It’s a case of keeping it alive until the Hibs game after the split. We have to pick up as many points as possible, but as I said last week, I’m not here to relegate Hibs, I’m here to save Dunfermline.
”Hibs took advantage of our defeat last week and got a result. But one week can change it and suddenly we could be in the hunt going to Easter Road.
”We would love to be in that position, but Hibs will be thinking they want it to be over before then.
”But the pressure is more on them because they are a big club and have those expectation levels, we are waiting for a slip up, which isn’t a great position to be in, but we just want to put pressure on them.”Determined to get victoryHearts have a William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic coming up and it has been suggested they might rest key players at East End Park on Saturday.
However, Jefferies believes no matter which team Jambos boss Paulo Sergio selects, Dunfermline are in for a tough match.
He said: ”They might think about leaving some players out and then you get young players or fringe players coming in and trying to impress and it doesn’t get any easier.
”Any team he plays will be desperate to keep their place for the semi-final. So whatever Hearts side is picked at the weekend we are expecting a tough game. We were guilty of making a few mistakes last week and were punished for that and we are trying to eradicate those.”
Meanwhile, new Pars keeper Bernardo Dominguez Fernando finally met up with his new team-mates.
The 32-year-old was put through his paces under the watchful eye of Jefferies who added: ”Today was the first time he’s turned up because we couldn’t get clearance and then he was travelling.
”You can see he is a little bit rusty, but that is understandable as he hasn’t played since the back end of last year. Once he gets two or three sessions under his belt he will be okay.
”It’s important that we have someone to cover for Chris Smith and provide some competition for that position.”
Jefferies is sweating over the fitness of Kevin Rutkiewicz and Liam Buchanan who both picked up knocks in training.