There have been times on this current run when James McPake has been proud of his Dunfermline players, even if the result wasn’t there.
On Friday, he was in no mood to put any spin on a poor performance after they lost 3-0 to Raith Rovers in the Fife derby in the Scottish Cup.
Goals from Jack Hamilton, Sam Stanton and Lewis Vaughan sent Rovers into the next round, with Lewis McCann missing a late penalty for Dunfermline.
James McPake: Credit to Raith
The Pars had a few spells of pressure in the game but in the end it wasn’t nearly enough.
“I think the scoreline reflects exactly what we deserved out the game,” said McPake. “Raith were the better team on the night.
“I’ve been the one that’s maybe stood here a couple of times, here and at Stark’s Park, and said we didn’t get out the game what we probably deserved, but certainly tonight we got exactly what we deserved.”
“The performance wasn’t great but credit to them. Look, they came, they changed their formation, whether that was due to injury or what they’ve seen against us, and I can’t stand here and say it didn’t work, because it did.
“It gives us something to go and look at, but that’s why myself, Dave, the rest of the coaching staff, that’s on us as much as anybody, when you see a team come and play a different formation.
“I wouldn’t say it spooked us, because Inverness played with the back three, and it was slightly different, the way Inverness did it than Raith, so I think credit has to go to Raith for that.”
Regardless of the reasons, McPake said there is much for the team to work on – and that extends to the management staff
There is a quick turnaround too, with Abroath up next at East End Park on Tuesday.
“There’s lots. I’ll need to watch it back and analyse that but, again, it’s goals you concede, and I just thought we were sloppy in terms of our use of the ball all over the pitch all night,” said McPake.
“It’s a mixture of both, but I think a lot of credit has to go to Raith for the way they came and did play, particularly with changing that, because it’s not easy to go into a back three against a team that it normally does work pretty well for.
“Credit to them for that.”
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