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SportScottish ChampionshipDunfermline captain Andy Geggan insists fans' criticism won't affect him after surviving...

Dunfermline captain Andy Geggan insists fans’ criticism won’t affect him after surviving administration turmoil

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Dunfermline captain Andy Geggan survived the turmoil of administration at East End Park – and insists there is no chance he will let criticism from fans affect him.

Geggan has been playing out of position at right back recently but that still hasn’t stopped a section of the Pars supporters giving the 29-year-old a hard time over his performances.

Injury and a loss of form has led to full-back Ryan Williamson sitting out and Geggan admits it has taken time to adjust from making the switch from central midfield.

But having witnessed the distress caused by the club’s grave financial problems in 2013, Geggan insists he will not lose any sleep over the flak he receives from the stands.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s visit of Dumbarton, Geggan said: “I’ve been here for five years and put up with everything possible, I’ve put up with administration – the lot.

“So I don’t think any fan is going to annoy me.

“I’ve gone from playing centre midfield, enjoying yourself and bursting into the box.

“Then every week at right back you’re playing against somebody with a bit of quality that could run by you and it’s quite hard to adjust.

“I’m obviously not going to score as many goals and my job is to create them.

“It’s totally different but fans will be fans.

“It’s the same at every club, once you’ve been there a few years they start picking you out because you’ve been there the longest and because I’ve been wearing the captain’s armband I’ll probably get slaughtered for that as well.

“That’s what happens in football, you need to take it on the chin and get on with it.

“I just work hard and as long as I’m playing I’m happy, the manager (Allan Johnston) could put me in goals and I’d be happy.”

The Pars have only been defeated once in 11 league outings but are just two points ahead of Ayr United in the relegation play-off place.

Finishing in the top four is a long shot for the Fife outfit and Geggan admits upcoming matches against the Sons, Queen of the South, St Mirren and Ayr United will have a huge bearing on whether the Pars are going to be dragged into the intense relegation dogfight.

He added: “It’s pretty tight down there but we’ve got three games in hand and a I think the next few weeks will be decisive.

“As long as we can get the results, I think we can move away from everybody.

“It’s very, very tight and we can’t afford any slips.

“They’re the biggest weeks of the season for us anyway. We’ve got to take confidence from Saturday against Hibs and I think we’ll be more than up for it.

“As long as we can keep working hard we’ll be all right.”

Geggan has watched fourth place Morton challenge for promotion just a year after climbing back into the second tier and hopes Dunfermline can emulate their success if they survive this term.

He added: “I know we’re a massive club but staying up this season would be a  great step and we would hopefully build on that.

“Jim Duffy has done an unbelievable job at Morton and I never thought they would be up there. It’s taken them a year to get going and then they kick on. Hopefully we can do the exact same.

“We should be competing up there but it never happened at the start of the season.

“With the players we’ve got we should be in the top four at least, it was a sticky start. But I think we’ll finish strong.”

Sons manager Stevie Aitken, whose side are locked on 27 points with the Pars following a four game unbeaten run, said: “We are on a good run of form as are the Pars, but we can really only worry about ourselves.

“We’re going to need everybody for the run-in, it’s going to be tough but if we keep everybody fit it gives us a chance.”

 

 

 

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