Danny Smith: Pace in a bad place, admits boss after bore draw with Rosyth

The Denny outfit travelled to Fife despite the inclement weather conditions, which saw all of the matches in the region postponed, bar one which took place at Oriam’s playing indoor surface.

On the day, a depleted Pace had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half and a late penalty claim turned turned down as they struggled to find the back of the net.

“We’ve had a lot of praise over the past wee while but we are going through a difficult period at the moment,” Smith told the Falkirk Herald.

“You can see at the moment that we are really missing key players across the park and that evident today for sure, there is no denying that because it is very much true. David Grant is missing, Danny Ashe is out, other boys are missing all over the place. We went to Rosyth with a squad of just 15/16 players and that is how it has been for a wee while.

“We finished the match with eight players under the age of 21, which is great don’t get me wrong, it speaks highly of the club’s belief in the players coming through our development side, but it isn’t ideal.

"We could have won it at the end and Kano (David Kane) made a brilliant save before that to deny them a certain goal from a header so a draw was a fair result.

“Marty Wright put in a shift up top but he can only really give you 60/70 minutes and he really had to come off late on. Keir Stevenson up there with him hadn’t kicked a ball in four weeks but it was needs must and he came off because he was too because he was completely spent. We ended up with a central-midfielder playing up there because that is just where we are at right now.”

Dunipace have now gone five matches without a win in the league after the bore draw, with the club stuck in tenth spot on 20 points – seven away from the top three promotion spots.

However, Smith believes the run is something that can be turned around quickly.

He added: “After the highs of the Scottish Cup journey, we’ve clearly hit some lows in the league and sometimes that happens. When you have those high moments it can all fall back down to earth quickly.

“What we need to do as a group is get through this spell and get to the other side of it. We just need a wee break, something to fall our way in the box, that sort of thing.

“I praised the players after the match despite the result because it wasn’t down to a lack of effort. They gave everything in a hard-fought tie against a good team away from home.

“Being stuck right in the middle of the league table isn’t ideal and it isn’t where I want Dunipace to be, but that is where we are. It is something that can change quickly.

"It is as simple as that. We just need to find that wee bit of quality.”