Dunfermline Athletic manager John Potter maintains that his side are still capable of getting into the promotion mix by ending the season on a high.
The seventh-placed Pars are six points adrift of the coveted play-off spots in League One with seven games to go, but Potter refuses to suggest their chances of a top four finish are dead and buried with all six of the teams above them still to play.
Indeed, the Pars boss reckons a win over Stenhousemuir this afternoon could provide the spark they need to go on a run of wins that would see them claw their way back into the picture.
“It can be done,” he told Courier Sport.
“There are more teams in the mix now, with Airdrie and Peterhead doing well, so that could be a problem – but it could also be a good thing because they’re playing the teams round about the top as well.
“For me, what we do is the most important thing.
“We have to win games and if we don’t it doesn’t matter what other teams do.
“If we do our bit then I’m still confident we can get into the play-offs.
“It’s a difficult league, very competitive, but from our point of view we’ve not been good enough and we know that.
“We should have been higher up the league but we’ve dropped a lot of points.
“We’ve played well enough to take more points and not done it – that’s the facts.
“So it’s been a disappointment so far, but it’s not finished yet and it’s up to us to make a strong finish and see where we end up.”
Coming back from 2-0 down against Stenhousemuir to win 3-2 at East End Park earlier this year looked to be a potentially pivotal point in the Pars’ season.
But even though the Pars failed to put together a winning run after that result, Potter feels that another win over Stenny this afternoon would be a timely one.
“It’s got to be a turning point for us,” he added.
“They were good in the first-half and it was a difficult game, but they usually are difficult games. “They’ve done OK since Brown took over as well, we’ve had them watched and their performances have picked up.
“They’ve been dangerous and they’ve scored a few goals.
“It will be a difficult game but it’s up to us to go and be positive, get on the front foot and go there and try and win the game.
“They’ve picked up since Brown Ferguson came in, even in terms of performances as much as results. We get them watched most weeks and they’ve got dangerous players.
“Colin McMenamin, I think, is the top scorer in the league and McMillan from Celtic is dangerous, and scored the last time against us, and they’re hard to break down at the back.
“We’ll pay them respect and hopefully we’ll know the way they’re going to go about their business.
“But, for me, it’s about us.
“If we do our job right, and in a quicker manner than we did last week, then I think we can create chances and score goals.”
Dunfermline’s only absentee will be forward Ryan Wallace, who is set to be out for the rest of the season after suffering a setback related to his previous pelvic injury.