Coll Donaldson has described Dunfermline’s demolition at the hands of Morton as his lowest moment in football.
However, the Pars defender is adamant his campaign can still culminate with the high of securing Championship survival.
Donaldson, 26, made his debut for the Fifers in the chastening defeat in Greenock on January 8.
Given he had been frozen out at Ross County, it was Donaldson’s first appearance in five months and he also endured the ignominy of netting an own goal.
However, the ex-Dundee United defender has shone since that miserable afternoon at Cappielow, helping Dunfermline keep three clean sheets in seven matches.
“The Morton match was probably the lowest point that I have had in football,” said Donaldson candidly.
“It doesn’t get much worse — and that was the conversation that I had with my dad.
“But I just said, ‘let’s batter in and try and improve things’. It was a challenging afternoon.
“The manager said in the changing room after the game that, as bad as you feel just now, this could work as a positive for us.
“We haven’t set the heather alight since then but there has definitely been a lot more fight in us. We have been a lot more competitive in games.”
Wake-up call
Indeed, Dunfermline can consider themselves unfortunate not to have claimed at least a point against Arbroath last weekend, passing up a string of excellent opportunities during the 1-0 defeat.
But Donaldson is acutely aware that the time for hard-luck stories is long gone.
“With 10 games to go you can’t be getting beat and then say, ‘we played really well’,” he continued.
“I think it has taken until this week for us to go, ‘hold on a minute now, this needs to stop’. Points need to be put on the board, now.
“If that’s 1-0 wins where we have ten per cent of the ball, I’d take it!
“But, if we were getting beat and being battered in games, it would hard to come in and say that we are really confident about staying up. Whereas, if we had got six points out of the last two weeks nobody would really have begrudged us.”
‘Panic stations’
Dunfermline’s defeat at Gayfield saw them slip to the bottom of the Championship, seven points adrift of guaranteed safety.
While John Hughes has undoubtedly overseen an improvement in performances during his time in charge, the Pars’ plight has been worsened by the likes of Morton, Ayr United, Hamilton and, most recently, Queen of the South picking up crucial results.
“We had a meeting with the boys where we agreed that we cannot rely on other teams,” Donaldson added pointedly. “As soon as you start relying on teams to get beat, it’s panic stations.
“We still have enough time and there is enough ability in that changing room to look after ourselves.”
Dunfermline face Hamilton in Lanarkshire on Saturday.
