Jordon Brown says Peterhead know they have a “massive chance” to haul themselves off the bottom of League One – and prevent a potential Dunfermline Athletic title party – on Tuesday night.
Saturday’s 1-0 victory over FC Edinburgh, which was the Blue Toon’s first win since beating fellow relegation strugglers Clyde in January, means they can climb a point above the Bully Wee, back up to ninth, should they beat champions-elect Dunfermline this evening.
While Peterhead can boost their survival hopes by moving out of the automatic relegation slot and into the play-off spot, Tuesday’s visitors Dunfermline know they could seal the title with four games to spare – should the Pars win at Balmoor and Falkirk fail to take three points at Montrose.
Brown, who is interim charge of the Blue Toon alongside fellow player Ryan Strachan, thinks the chance to get out of a league position which guarantees the drop is a “massive incentive” going into the game against a Dunfermline side who beat them 4-0 at East End Park in January.
He said: “It’s a massive chance to get ourselves off the foot of the table.
“We’re under no illusions how difficult it will be. Dunfermline are coming are up here probably trying to have a party if Falkirk fail to win as well.
“They’ve had a tremendous season. It’s a very tough league, and for them to have the gap they’ve got at the top just shows their quality.
“Obviously they’re full-time and they’re coming up here during the week, which is a bit less of a problem for them.
“We just need to show exactly what we showed on Saturday.”
The home win over FC Edinburgh, courtesy of Josh Oyinsan’s goal, pleased Brown and Strachan, whose only criticism of their players was they did not turn their sustained front-foot approach into a more comprehensive scoreline.
Brown said: “It’s been a long time coming and it hasn’t happened anywhere near enough all season. It’s incredible to think we only had two wins before Saturday and it’s three now.
“We did win well, and the only disappointment we had – and which we reiterated to the boys – was we wanted more goals.
“But the points are massive and it gives us something to build on now in the last five games.”
With the Blue Toon squad having had just a couple of days to recuperate for Tuesday’s tough fixture, the message from the co-bosses will again be to “outwork them, be hard to play against and look to play on the front foot”.
However, Brown admits Peterhead will also likely have to adopt a degree of pragmatism in their approach, adding: “We’ve played Dunfermline three times this season and it’s no fluke they’re at the top of the league.
“So we’ve got to be pragmatic, of course, and we’ll have some sort of plan to try to stop them playing, but also making sure we’re keeping the belief up in our group, because it’s been there again – the belief we can win football matches.”
Defender Jason Brown will be assessed ahead of tonight’s game, having been forced off through injury against Edinburgh.
However, top-scorer Conor O’Keefe will return to the Blue Toon squad after suffering a knee injury which required surgery at the tail-end of last year.
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