James McPake has repeated his vow that Dunfermline will get out of relegation trouble, despite being held at home by Arbroath.
The Pars boss was encouraged by the debut performance of new loan signing Chris Kane, who came close to a goal in a frantic final five minutes of the 1-1 draw.
The St Johnstone striker banged a header off the upright from point-blank range as the Fifers sought in vain for a late winner.
They had to make do with just a point after Malachi Fagan-Walcott’s first senior goal was cancelled out by Tam O’Brien’s leveller five minutes after the restart.
The result keeps a six-point buffer between the teams at the bottom of the Championship.
And draws for Inverness Caley Thistle and Queen’s Park above them means McPake’s side are still just four points adrift of the fifth spot now occupied by Ayr United.
McPake said: “I think we did enough to win that game. In terms of clear-cut chances today, it was much more like us, in terms of the chances we made.
“I thought Chris Kane made a difference.
“[But] a common theme – set plays again. We concede a really poor goal from a set play, and we threw everything at them in the end.
Night and day
“Credit to them, they defended really well and, with a bit of fortune at the top end of the pitch late on, we would have come away with three points.
“In terms of performance-wise, it’s night and day [from the last two weeks].
“It’s not the result we wanted, of course it’s not. But I think you could see the difference in the fans, just getting behind the players throughout the full game, because they could see the players were giving them everything this week.
“I think we certainly did enough in that game to win it.
“But, we speak every week, that you’ve got to do the basics. For me, the most important basic in the game is defending your own box and, unfortunately, that cost us today.”
He added: “We’ll dust them down. It’s a point, it’s not what we wanted.
“But I think the big thing walking off is that the fans won’t be happy with the result, of course they’ll not, we’re not, but they’ll not walk away saying that every Dunfermline player didn’t give everything today.
“For me, that’s key going forward. I still stand here and say the exact same thing as I did last week – we’ll get out this.
“The players are spurred on already, we’re spurred on already. Last week, after losing eight goals in two games, and coming out and saying [what I did], the players all believe that as well.
“I can see enough in that. They’re spurred on turn it round.”
Focal point
Meanwhile, McPake was delighted with the debut performance of Kane, who led the forward line intelligently throughout.
He added: “I think he gave us a focal point. I think you could see that.
“Kano’s header at the end, he gets up really well, and even the rebound – it’s good defending, they’re throwing their bodies on the line.
“But that’s when you’re just hoping something goes in.
“He’ll make a massive difference to this team and that 90 minutes will do him the world of good. That’s his first game in a while.”
