Ewan Otoo has delivered an honest assessment of Dunfermline’s struggles ahead of Saturday’s clash with bottom-of-the-table Arbroath.
The Pars defender has backed James McPake’s ninth-placed side – who have gone eight matches without victory – to turn things around.
But the 21-year-old admits there have been occasions when the squad has lacked togetherness and belief.
Otoo – who prefers a midfield role but has been used at the back almost exclusively this season due to injuries – says the players must remain upbeat and learn from recent mistakes.
‘More belief needed’
“As a group, we’re all positive,” said Otoo. “We all know what we need to do.
“We all know that the way to go is to be positive and to be upbeat, that’s when you get the best out of us as a group.
“Collectively, we are all in the right mindset. It’s hard to say what’s gone wrong in general.
“At times, maybe as players we can be a little bit, I wouldn’t say naïve, but sometimes we maybe lack a little bit of togetherness.
“And we could do with having a bit more belief at times.
“If we do believe in ourselves a bit more then that confidence will come, we’ll be able to perform to the best of our ability and then go from there.
“Sometimes it just comes down to knowing how good we are.
“Hopefully, we can show that on Saturday – show how good we are and pick up the three points.”
The Pars faithful have been put through the mill in recent weeks at East End Park, with back-to-back defeats and no goals scored.
This week, Dunfermline added experience to McPake’s young squad by signing Chris Kane on loan from St Johnstone.
‘Experience crucial’
Ex-Celtic kid Otoo added: “We don’t want injuries as an excuse, we don’t use the fact that we’re young as an excuse.
“We all believe we are good enough to do better than we have been doing in recent weeks.
“It’s going to be good for us, especially adding that experience.
“The know-how, a leader and a player we can look to on the pitch when perhaps it might not be going so well.
“He’s been in that situation time and time again, so hopefully he can help us to come out of our situation.”
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