East Fife travel to bottom of the league Dumbarton today knowing that they desperately need a win to kick start their season and keep themselves away from the relegation zone.
The Fifers were unlucky not to have taken anything from last week's game against Hamilton but will be encouraged by the chances they created, particularly in the last 15 minutes of the game after the introduction of Brian Fairbairn. Chances however, must be turned into goals, and this will no doubt be the message that Jim Moffat will be giving to his players before today's game.
Keeper Gary O'Connor is out injured alongside Les Byle and Ian McDonald. Gordon Russell and Paul Mortimer could be in contention for a place in the squad, whilst Paddy Kelly misses out due to work commitments. With the departure of young Striker Fraser Ogilvie last week Jim Moffat is looking to bring in some new faces, although the identities of these players remain a mystery at the moment.
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East Fife face a trip to Dumbarton at Boghead Park on Saturday evening, needing to turn around their fortunes at the ground. The Fifers will be hoping to improve upon a record which has seen them lose 35 and win only 10 of the 58 games.
The most recent encounter between these two sides was just last season, in August 2002, the Sons carving out a narrow 1 - 0 victory in a Scottish Challenge Cup match.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2003/2004 | Sat 04 Oct | East Fife | 1 - 0 | Dumbarton | SCD2 |
| 2002/2003 | Tue 06 Aug | Dumbarton | 1 - 0 | East Fife | SCC |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 06 Apr | Dumbarton | 2 - 0 | East Fife | SCD3 |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 02 Feb | East Fife | 1 - 0 | Dumbarton | SCD3 |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 15 Dec | Dumbarton | 1 - 0 | East Fife | SCD3 |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 29 Sep | East Fife | 4 - 1 | Dumbarton | SCD3 |
| 2000/2001 | Sat 07 Apr | East Fife | 0 - 1 | Dumbarton | SCD3 |
Recent respective form guides
Dumbarton are not in the best of form at home, with two wins, two draws, and two defeats in their last six. Only 5 goals have been registered in this time, with 6 in the wrong end.
East Fife have an average recent record on the road, collecting 1 win and 3 draws from the last six played. While the Fifers have hit 5 goals, 9 have hit the back of the wrong net.
Dumbarton are hovering perilously just above the relegation zone, with 16 points from 14 matches. East Fife see themselves just below half way in the Bells Scottish Division Two, showing a record of 21 points from their 15 games played so far,
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Current form guides: | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Dumbarton | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 10 |
| East Fife | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 4 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
FootyMad see this game edging towards a narrow win for the Sons, as the Fifers have been none too clever on the road in recent matches. Home win
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Dumbarton | 5 games since last home draw. Not won in the 2 most recent games. |
| East Fife | Not won in previous 4 away matches. An overall losing run of 2 games. No win in the 8 most recent games. |