East Fife v Ayr: Gary Naysmith calls on players to stand up

East Fife manager Gary Naysmith has called on his players to stand up and be counted after their fight to avoid relegation suffered a setback at the weekend.

A 2-1 loss to Arbroath means the Fifers are now just one point clear of the automatic relegation spot and in real danger of slipping back into Scottish football’s fourth tier.

Naysmith apologised to the fans for his side’s second-half performance at Gayfield on Saturday labelling it the worst he has seen since he has been in charge but the Methil boss will be hoping they can put things right at home to Ayr.

“We never started in the second half and we let ourselves down,” the 35-year-old said.

“There’s no getting away from it there was a chance there to open up a gap between ourselves and Arbroath and it was in our own hands.

“So, that’s the frustrating thing, that we have let Arbroath back into it. They will be feeling confident they’ve won two in a row.

“They’ve got Airdrie this weekend and, if results go their way, they could be out of the bottom two on Saturday. It’s up to us to get ourselves out of it.”