Cowdenbeath boss Jimmy Nicholl insists his team can still stay in the Championship this term but only if they stop shipping cheap goals.
Saturday’s 4-1 defeat to Queen of the South was yet another example of Cowden’s defensive frailties this season and they now face another promotion chasing side in the shape of Falkirk who will be gunning for goals to boost their push for a top four spot.
Although Cowden have now mustered only one win in the last 12 league games, the Blue Brazil’s fate is still in their own hands as they sit level on points with eighth-placed Alloa with two games on hand on their relegation rivals.
So while three points at Falkirk’s expense would be extremely handy, Nicholl would dearly love to see his side put up a better defensive showing than they did down in Dumfries at the weekend.
“It’s really disappointing but that is us all over,” he explained.
“We cannot afford to concede goals as easily as we are at this stage of the season.
“It seems as if as soon as we concede then we lose more and that’s where, as a player, you have got to stand up.
“You can have all your preparations during the week, you can pick your team where some people are happy, some people aren’t happy, and you can pick your system.
“And then all of a sudden the opposition score, so is that it?
“You are 1-0 down, is that it?
“It’s all about how you recover from wee setbacks against good teams.”
Nicholl pointed to their last home game against Hibs as proof that they can compete against teams in the top half and is looking for his men to show the same kind of fight they did in the second half of that game.
“What happened last week, after half an hour I’m sitting there thinking that Hibs have got all the possession and are knocking the ball about, we’ve got our backs to the wall and we’re chasing the ball a wee bit, but it was still 0-0,” he said.
“Then we come in at half-time 2-0 down because of a lapse in concentration and something farcical that happened.
“Some people might think is this going to end up three, four, five, six?
“But that didn’t happen and that’s the only consolation I have out of that game.
“At least the players seemed to have a bit more about them instead of collapsing like they have done in previous games.”
Both Dean Brett and on loan Celtic midfielder John Herron will again be missing from the Blue Brazil line-up with ankle injuries.