Jason Thomson admits Arbroath’s Boxing Day trip to Dunfermline will be a strange one with no supporters in the stands.
The Lichties will play their first game under new Covid restrictions at East End Park, following an announcement from the First Minister on Tuesday.
While Premiership clubs have voted to postpone their season for three weeks, the lower leagues decided to play on with reduced crowds.
The Pars, however, have chosen to play home fixtures over the three-week period behind closed doors, as they they believe it would not be logistically or financially possible to host only 500 supporters.
‘Difficult’ situation
While Thomson is as frustrated as any football supporter by the shutout, he admits players just need to get on with it.
“It’s a difficult one as a player,” he explained.
“In an ideal world you’d want to have the fans there, everyone’s the same.
“I think the fans certainly appreciate what we’ve been doing and we certainly appreciate the part they’ve been playing.
“But we’re not living in an ideal world at the moment.
“Safety is a priority for everyone. So, the government and governing bodies will make decisions on that, whether we agree with them or not.
“We’re paid to go and play, if that’s what we need to do, we’ll certainly go and do it but it’s not ideal.”
Pars fired up
Regardless of the number of fans in the stands, there is still a game of football to be won, with Arbroath aiming to keep their spot at the top of the table.
The sides have met twice already this season, with the Lichties winning 3-0 and 4-2.
“Yogi (John Hughes) has come in and he’ll have his team fired up, there to win the game,” Thomson said.
“He came in when Dunfermline were going through at a difficult period. There results have been up and down.
“We’re planning and hoping to win, our performances over the last while have been great, but it’s a tough place to go to.
“We had a great performance there at the start of the season, but we’ll definitely be facing a different team to the side we did that day.”
Yogi and Dick similar
Thomson, who spent six years at Raith Rovers, will come up against former gaffer Hughes on Sunday.
His bold personality is well-known throughout Scottish football and Thomson sees similar characteristics in the Dunfermline boss to his current gaffer Dick Campbell.
“I had Yogi at Raith and things didn’t quite go to plan there but that’s well in the past, he’s moved on.
“He’s definitely a character, similar to the gaffer I have at the moment in some ways. He’s got his own philosophy on football and how he wants to do that.
“I know we’re sitting top and have that part-time name attached to us, any team at home will be expecting to pick up the three points against Arbroath, it’s up to us to nullify that.”
