Dunfermline perhaps should have been preparing for a potentially lucrative Scottish Cup tie against Dundee United on Sunday, but a shock replay defeat at home to Stranraer put paid to that.
That loss at East End Park on a freezing December night turned out to be the beginning of the end for former boss Jim Jefferies, and John Potter was installed as manager less than a week later.
But while the Pars would far rather be in cup action this weekend, forward Ryan Wallace reckons their early cup exit could actually work for the Fife club rather than against them.
“That’s football isn’t it,” he told Courier Sport.
“If you dominate games but don’t score goals then you are not going win games, and I think that’s the way it went that night we played Stranraer.
“I don’t think anything fell for us that night but it might be a blessing in disguise that we’re out the cup.
“Obviously it’s not great to see that our name is not in the hat, but we can now concentrate on the league and that’s the most important thing.
“I thought the boys have been playing well, minus the Morton game, but the problem had been scoring goals.
“At the end of the day, as I said, if you don’t score goals you don’t win matches, but I thought the boys dug in on Saturday against Ayr and got the win.
“Obviously we need to go and kick on now and start winning every game.
“We’ve got to treat every game between now and the end of the season as if it’s a cup final and not bother about who we are playing.
“I’m absolutely delighted for the manager to get his first win and hopefully there will be many more between now and the rest of the season.”
The Pars will have a break from the league this weekend when they take on Cowdenbeath in a domestic Fife Cup semi-final, with the game doubling up as a fund-raiser for Cowden defender Dean Brett’s daughter Mia after the loss of his partner Gemma to cancer last month.
The players were therefore in at training as usual yesterday and Wallace is delighted that they are now based at East End Park during the week after being forced to move from their previous complex at Pitreavie.
“I enjoy it up here and I think the boys enjoy it more than at Pitreavie because there’s more to do,” he continued.
“The boys are more together and there’s things to do away from the actual training side of things like darts and table tennis, so that keeps you busy in between gym sessions and stuff like that.
“I’m not very good at table tennis so I’ll just stick to the football!”
Wallace has had a frustrating time of it in the last few months as he recovers from a stress fracture near his lower back, and he was forced to miss the Pars’ last game through a related injury after making his long-awaited return.
He explained: “Obviously it was a wee setback from the injury that was there previously, but hopefully it will only be a few weeks before I get back.
“I had a stress fracture of my sacrum, and I’ve had a wee bit tightness around my pelvis in the last few weeks so it’s been very frustrating.
“It’s been over a year now going around in circles, getting myself fit and then going back out again, so hopefully the time’s coming where it’s cleared up and I can get on with it.
“I know we’re getting near the end of the season but it’s something I need to get over and look forward to playing more games.”