Professional pride rather than revenge of any sorts is on East Fife manager’s Gary Naysmith’s mind as they aim to avoid a third defeat of the season to Berwick.
The Fifers lost 3-2 at home back in August but it was the 3-2 Scottish Cup defeat, again at Bayview, that could potentially add a little spice to this afternoon’s league encounter at Shielfield.
East Fife incredibly ended that match with eight men as Jamie Beaton, Allan Walker and Caolan McAleer were all dismissed in a fiery last 15 minutes.
But Naysmith insists that three points is all that’s on the agenda of his side as they travel south looking to end a run of four league games without a win.
“I want to go down to Berwick for one reason only they’ve already beaten us twice,” he admitted.
“I don’t want any team to keep beating us and beating us, and the last time we played Berwick players didn’t get us sent off, it was us ourselves who lost our discipline.
“We don’t want a team beating us three or four times a season, so that’s what we need to have in our minds.
“The good thing about the 0-0 draw against Albion Rovers last week is that the players played for each other, nobody went missing and everybody put in a shift.
“When you do that and keep doing that, luck eventually turns for you.
“We’re in a sticky situation right now but we just have to work through it.”
Naysmith will weigh up whether to select himself for the starting 11 after appearing in the last two games, while Steven Campbell is a doubt after tweaking his groin during the 0-0 draw with Albion last weekend.
Alan Cook also remains out and is likely to be sidelined for a further five weeks after undergoing knee surgery last week, although Naysmith is hopeful the operation has cleared up the midfielder’s niggling injury.