Allan Johnston hopes Dunfermline can “turn their season around” with the Fife derby win over Raith Rovers that everyone at the club craves.
The Pars were expecting to be challenging for a promotion play-off spot in the Championship this season after romping their way to the League One title last term.
However, instead, they currently find themselves languishing in eighth spot with just two victories to their name, whilst Fife rivals Raith Rovers are riding high in third.
Johnston said: “If you look at their form recently, Raith have been doing really well.
“But I think that getting a win against a team like that, especially with them being the rivals, would give the club a massive boost.
“And hopefully turn our season around as well.
“I still think we’ve got good players and a couple of results would give us that confidence back and the spring where you expect to win games.
“But the only way we can get that is by everybody pulling together and working incredibly hard for each other.
“That means defending and attacking and throwing yourself in front of things.
“That’s the only way you can turn things round.”
He added: “The boys are right up for this game. What I liked last Saturday was they were raging, they weren’t happy at the end of the game.
“Now, we need to turn that kind of desire into results.”
Johnston and Rovers manager Gary Locke were team-mates at Hearts and also worked together at Kilmarnock but Johnston is eager to play down the pair’s dugout clash across the Fife divide.
He said: “Gary’s a good lad but it’s not difficult being rivals for 90 minutes.
“Whether it’s in training, playing against each other, or playing against each other, you always want to win. But we’re still friends at the end of the day.
“But it’s about what the players do. It’s a derby game and it’s about us making sure we get the best out of our players.”
