Dunfermline defender Austin McCann has identified the ingredients he feels will be required to make champions.
You can forget about fantastic football, he believes other assets will be needed to get the Pars over the promotion finishing line.
The good news for the East End Park men, who travel to Dingwall tomorrow night to face Ross County, is that he is confident his team-mates have what it takes to clinch the division one title.
McCann said, “From here on in, it will not be about who plays the best football. It will about character, determination and bottle. Those are things I believe we possess here at Dunfermline.
“Promotion is still in our own hands. If we win our remaining matches then we go up. It sounds simple win six games and we are champions.
“I think people appreciate that is a big ask, but we will give it our best shot. We are in the middle of a busy period just now, and the game against Ross County will be our fourth midweek match in a row.
“County are fighting for their lives, and it seems that every team in the division has something to play for. Hopefully, we got a good point against Partick on Saturday rather than dropped two, but we will only find that out at the end of the season.
“It may look like a chance lost, but Thistle made it really hard for us. No game is easy and that is why the league is so tight.”JeersThe applause at the final whistle on Saturday was sprinkled with some jeers, which indicated Pars fans were like McCann unsure if the goalless draw was a good or bad outcome.
Just a few miles away at Falkirk, leaders Raith Rovers were losing 2-1 to the Bairns, meaning Jim McIntyre’s men close the gap on the Kirkcaldy men to one point.
McCann continued, “Falkirk are back in it now after beating Raith, although they will have to win their games in hand to stay with the both of us.”
Pars boss Jim McIntyre thought a share of the spoils with the Jags was the right outcome. He said, “I think a draw was fair. Thistle are a good side and you always know you are going to be in for a tough game.
“We had a lot of pressure, but our final ball and decision-making let us down a bit. We had chances to get crosses in, but hit the first man too often that was the most disappointing thing.
“But their attitude and desire to keep going forward was really good.”BreakthroughMcIntyre thanked the East End Park crowd for roaring the team on as they tried to get the breakthrough. He said, “I thought our fans were excellent and really got behind us.
“We had asked for them to give us their backing and I thought they were far more vocal which was great.”
Thistle gaffer Ian McCall, whose team must be torturing him with their inconsistency, was satisfied enough to be taking a point back to Glasgow.
He said, “We had a lot of opportunities, but needed to be more precise in front of goal. For a 0-0 draw it was a good enough game and very open. I am pleased enough with the point.”