Dunfermline blew an opportunity to return to the top of League One yet again last weekend, but boss Jim Jefferies will be determined not to let another chance slide against Stenhousemuir today.
A late equaliser up at Peterhead cost the Pars full points from a match they could have had dead and buried a week ago, and it has been the story of the season so far as Jefferies’ men have been punished time and again for failing to kill teams off.
A missed penalty against Forfar cost them two points in a 0-0 draw four weeks ago and then the loss of late goal at Morton a week later saw them slump to a 2-1 defeat at Cappielow in a fixture they had looked like winning.
However, the Pars remain right in the thick of things at the top of the table and are just one point adrift of league leaders Forfar heading into the weekend.
“We have only lost one in the last seven but if we can get it right and start not throwing games we are capable of creating a big lead in this league,” Jefferies noted.
“It is not because the other teams are that great because if they were they would be cashing in.
“What is happening is that when we are getting away with failures, they are also getting away with bad results.
“We are gifting teams the points yet the others are still only a point off the lead.”
Jefferies felt his team did more than enough to win last week’s game at Peterhead and admitted they paid the price for failing to convert in front of goal when it mattered.
“I am frustrated for not killing them off from the chances, the quality of the play and the dominance of the play but also because we were worthy of being three up in the first half alone,” he said.
“We have got to make sure that we cash in on that superiority.
“But we are playing really, really well.
“The first half of the game against Peterhead we can put on a parallel with the best of our performances this year.
“It is the old story though, when you are that far in front of teams with that many opportunities you have to kill them off. We didn’t do that and what that does is give the other team a wee bit more belief.
“If we are playing that well and not winning, we maybe need to change our ideas a wee bit.
“I do not think what we are doing is wrong, it is just that we have that little part missing in the jigsaw that would turn the game.”
The Pars will be without Lewis Martin, who is away with Scotland U19s on international duty, while midfielder Josh Falkingham is unlikely to be risked as he recovers from having his tonsils removed.
Young striker Allan Smith has given Jefferies a welcome selection headache ahead of the game, however, after netting a hat-trick in a superb 5-0 win over Dundee in the Development League in midweek.