Dunfermline boss Jim McIntyre has insisted that the Pars will not be facing a club in crisis when Dundee United visit East End Park on Saturday.
Peter Houston’s side crashed out of the Scottish Communities League Cup on Tuesday to First Division Falkirk and are without a win in their last five matches. That poor run of form has sparked speculation that Houston’s job may be on the line (link).
McIntyre, who was previously a player at Tannadice, described the speculation as a ”horrible” part of football.
He said: ”I watched United on Tuesday night against Falkirk and I felt they played exceptionally well. The result will make people think otherwise but United had an unbelievable amount of chances to score.
”If they had taken just a few of them, they would have been home and dry and sitting in the semi-finals of the cup.
”In the league, they are one win away from being sixth. I am sure they will be disappointed with the way things have gone so far, but I don’t see it as any sort of crisis.
”Peter Houston has done a fabulous job there and I think people are quick to jump on situations if there hasn’t been the right results. That’s just the way it is in this business and it can be horrible at times.”
Dunfermline will be taking nothing for granted against a struggling United side but McIntyre did admit that his squad received a big boost after last weekend’s well-earned draw up in Inverness.
He said: ”Results give you confidence but performances do as well. Even although we lost the game against Hearts, we turned in a performance which was more like us.
”And I think we took the confidence from that into the game against Inverness. We played very well and created a lot of chances.
”It is a building block for us and we are determined to turn in another big performance against Dundee United.”