Jim McIntyre has confessed Arbroath desperately needed at least a point against Dunfermline in their battle to avoid relegation to League One.
A Tam O’Brien header five minutes after the break earned the Red Lichties a hard-earned 1-1 draw against the Pars at East End Park.
The Gayfield side started the match six points behind their hosts at the bottom of the Championship. And they finished in exactly the same position.
Defeat would have given the Fifers a nine-point advantage, with Inverness Caley Thistle also six points ahead in eighth and Queen’s Park a further two points in front in seventh.
The Angus men showed strength of character to come from behind and close out the result in the face of a grandstand finish from Dunfermline.
And McIntyre admits it was important not to drop any further behind their hosts at the foot of the table.
“Absolutely,” he said when asked if it was key not to lose any ground. “Going into today’s game and losing the match it would have made it even harder.
“We still know what we need to do, we still need the points it’s going to take us to stay in the division.
“And it’s important you don’t get too high or too low, and keep approaching the games in the right manner.
Points
“We need to keep trying to get ourselves over the line and get those three points.
“If you can’t do that, try not to lose the match.”
Arbroath added an incredible nine players to their squad for the trip to Dunfermline after a three-week lay-off allowed injuries to clear up.
Defender Connor Teale also made his debut after joining from Fleetwood Town on loan earlier this month.
McIntyre has acknowledged it will take time for the returning players to get match fit. But he was thrilled with the effort and application shown against the Pars.
He added: “They [Dunfermline] are the home side and they’re going to have that period of pressure and pushing and pushing, which you expect a big club to do.
“We still had a couple of decent opportunities in the second-half to score ourselves,
“The boys can be pleased with their efforts today.
“We know it is going to take four or five weeks for probably six players to get up to proper speed.
“From that point of view, I can’t be too displeased.
Application
When you’re a goal down at East End Park and the crowd’s right up for it, it can be quite difficult to come back.
“But credit to the lads.Since I came in the door, their application has been fantastic.
“So, it’s nice to help out the starting XI today. We’ve not been able to do that too often because we’ve not had enough bodies to come off the bench.
“But today we did and they were needed.”
