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Having had time to reflect on Saturday’s heavy loss to promotion rivals Montrose, Paul Hartley says he feels the fans’ pain and understands why they are hurting right now, but he retains absolute belief is his squad, and is calling for everyone to pull together for the run-in.

The boss admits he did not see the weekend performance coming, and he knows there is going to have to be an immediate improvement if the side is to clinch a top four finish:

“We had played really well against Falkirk, which was why we went with the same team, the same formation. I had faith in the players, but we just underperformed on the day, never got going.

“It’s a new week, we know what we need to do, and we are hurting just as much as the supporters. You have to pick yourselves up, we’ve got eight games to go now, and we have to treat every one like a Cup Final.

“We still have a chance to get into the playoffs. If we can perform to our levels, get back to what we’re good at, I’m still confident. There’s no room for error, but we have to remain upbeat and positive.”

A lack of consistency is something the manager has often spoken about, and he admits that has been a major concern. There are though, he says, reasons why that might have been the case:

“Sometimes it’s been team selection, we’ve had a lot of injuries throughout the season, there’s hardly been a time when we’ve been able to play the same team; even during that good run we were on, we were always chopping and changing.”

The move towards full-time football, and the introduction of the hybrid model, while welcomed by the manager, has also presented a few issues:

“It has been new for us, trying to integrate everybody. There’s been a big turnover of players and we always knew it was going to be a transitional season for us. Obviously, the working week is a little bit different, but we’re not trying to offer excuses, and we know what we need to do.”

Understandably, there was a reaction from the fans to Saturday’s heavy defeat, and Paul says he has no complaints about that, he feels their pain:

“I was just as frustrated as they were and I can take that, they have the right to be disappointed with the level of performance and the manner of the loss, I get that. What we need to do is make sure that for the remaining eight games we are ready for the fight, ready for the battle.

“There are still a lot of points to play for, especially in a competitive league like this one, and it can turn quickly.

“We’ve got great experience in the group, we’re not sitting here in a relegation battle, we’re trying to get into the playoffs. Cove have come a long way in just five years and I think the club has definitely grown over that time.

“I still have confidence in my group of players. We had a bad performance on Saturday, we’ve got to put our hands up for that, and really go for it over the next eight games.”

The full interview with Paul can be found at our YouTube channel.

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