Like his manager, Chris Hamilton wasn’t in the mood to look for excuses after Dunfermline’s 3-0 loss to Partick Thistle at Firhill.
Standing in as captain in the absence of Kyle Benedictus – one of a fair few injuries – the boyhood Pars fan rejected the suggestion that a thin squad hindered them on Saturday.
True, Benedictus is one of a number of key players missing but the same starting XI from Saturday’s defeat, minus Ben Summers, put in good back-to-back performances versus Queen’s Park and Morton.
Dunfermline also had two credible first-half penalty shouts for handball waved away by the referee.
Chris Hamilton on Dunfermline penalty shouts
“As individuals and as a team we weren’t at the races,” said Hamilton.
“Those things maybe go for when you are at the races and get that wee bit of luck but we didn’t deserve anything today so we can’t have any complaints.”
“We are not going to make excuses. I don’t think it is a day for that. Last week we had a similar bench and put on a very good performance.
“It is one of those days and we need to look at ourselves before we look at anything else that’s gone on.
“Next week we have to make sure it doesn’t happen and we get a reaction.”
Performance ‘unlike’ Dunfermline
Next up is Hamilton’s former side Arbroath whose staggering run came to an end as Duncan Ferguson got off to a winning start as Inverness manager.
Dunfermline can take encouragement that performances like Saturday’s have been rare under McPake, though they will have to guard against it a lot more than last season in a much tougher division.
“It’s not been like us since I have come in the building or since the manager has come in,” said Hamilton
“We’ve not had many days like that, if any. Yes, we are disappointed but we need to look at what went wrong and look to bounce back. That’s all we can do now.”
Chris Hamilton: ‘We need to keep working hard’
“We know what this league can do to you. It gets you high and then brings you right back down to earth again. That’s maybe what has happened.
“We need to keep our feet on the ground, we need to keep working hard, it’s a very tough league.
“You get a few wins and then you can get a result like this the week after.
“It’s disappointing but it will happen probably to most teams in this league where you can have a day like this.
“We just need to make sure that it’s only one day we have like this.”
