Jim Jefferies has targeted back-to-back wins for his Dunfermline side as they bid to return to the top of the League One table.
The Pars rose up to the summit with their 2-0 victory over Stenhousemuir almost a fortnight ago but quickly relinquished that spot with last weekend’s 2-1 defeat away to Morton.
Jefferies has branded the display at Cappielow his side’s worst of the campaign, but has urged his squad to make up for that disappointment by seeing off Peterhead on Saturday and Stirling Albion seven days later.
He said: “We’re going into the next two games against the two teams that have been promoted and if we can get the maximum points out of the next two games then we’ll be able to look back and say ‘we’ve won five out of our last six’.
“If you had given me that beforehand, 15 points out of 18, I would have taken your hand off.
“That’s the target now and if we do that I’m sure we’ll be there or thereabouts at the top of the league again.
“We know Peterhead and Stirling will raise their game, everybody does – it’s a fact of life, you have to deal with it. And we had been dealing with that all right until Saturday.
“There were very few that just got pass marks last Saturday. I’ve said in defeats before this season – like at Forfar and against Falkirk – that we had played well. But that was the first game where we’ve not deserved anything.”
Although he has backed his players in the wake of the defeat to Morton, Jefferies has warned them another sub-standard display against the Blue Toon will not be acceptable.
He added: “The decision I have is whether one defeat constitutes making big changes? Certainly, if the same players get picked on Saturday then they’ll know they can’t afford another bad performances, because then they definitely will be out.
“They’ve got to put on a performance. If we can play as we have been at home then we’re hoping to get three points and then it will be on to Stirling.”
Dunfermline are likely to again be without injured striker Faissal El Bakhtaoui but full-back Ryan Williamson is recovering from the dead leg he sustained against Morton and summer signing Andy Stirling is nearing full fitness again after playing for 90 minutes in a closed-door game against Motherwell on Tuesday.
The Pars have, however, been robbed of the services of Allan Smith for the encounter – because the striker has had his tonsils removed.
The 20-year-old is already approaching his 50th appearance for the Pars after making his top-team breakthrough in the wake of the club’s descent into administration two seasons ago.
But the Borderer has been made unavailable for this weekend following surgery.
Jefferies expects Smith to be sidelined for only 10 days, however, and is hopeful he will return to fitness in time for the trip to face Stirling Albion next Saturday.
He said: “Allan has had to go in and get his tonsils out so will be missing for the Peterhead game this weekend.
“We thought we were going to be able to time it so he wouldn’t be out at all but he had to go this week.
“Hopefully it should just be 10 days he will be out for and he should be back for next weekend.”