James McPake has been impressed with the Dunfermline support so far this season.
He is aware of what this weekend’s versus Falkirk means to the support – and that it will draw them in their numbers.
The Pars boss was surprised with how many fans travelled down for the most recent win at Queen of the South.
He also praised them for their response to Airdrie’s equaliser the week before – that it drove the team on.
🎥 Watch the goals from yesterday's 1-1 draw with Airdrieonians.
Full Highlights Later! 🏁 pic.twitter.com/2uV2I2K0EG
— Dunfermline Athletic (@officialdafc) August 27, 2022
McPake’s side went on to have a goal harshly disallowed in the dying minutes.
Atmosphere pushes players on
“Obviously we are aware of what it means to supporters, both football clubs and both sets of fans.
“It is three points and a game in a league campaign that is going to be very tight come the end of it.
“We are looking forward to the game, we want to play in front of big crowds and we are expecting a decent crowd on Saturday, that will help both teams.”
The atmosphere generated – home and away – is “an incentive” for the players to keep up their performances.
This in turn encourages more to turn up for what was one of the first to be looked out when the League 1 fixture list was released.
Sitting unbeaten and top of the league doesn’t hurt.
Strong crowd expected
“This is perceived as a big game because it is against a rival and they have not come to play us here for a few years.
“That is what players want, you want to be involved in games like that every week if possible, so there is an incentive for them to keep producing good performances.
“If we keep doing that the fans will keep coming back.”
The strong Dunfermline crowd expected this weekend won’t be the first to impress McPake.
The make-up of the division this season makes for some tasty ties on the fixture list.
“You saw at Kelty, even though it is not the biggest of stadiums, we went up there with a big crowd,” he said.
“Even at Dumfries I was surprised by how many that we took down there, it is a long way.
“When we first came in we always said that only thing that we could guarantee is that they will give everything for this football club because if they don’t do that they will not play.
“What you get from that is buy-in from your crowd.
“Even against Airdrie when there was a real blow when we conceded that equaliser, they urged us on and on another day we could have got the winner.”
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