Mission is still possible for agent Jefferies

Wednesday 2 May 2012

JIM JEFFERIES always believed there was a chance Dunfermline Athletic could survive this term's relegation battle when he agreed to take over from Jim McIntyre six weeks ago.

Jim Jefferies admits that his side have a better chance of SPL survival than when he took over. Picture: SNS

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staff reporter

With three fixtures remaining, his task remains daunting but, with Saturday's win over Aberdeen giving the East End Park side renewed hope, mission impossible may yet provide a blockbuster ending for the men from Fife.

The permutations are complex, and include the possibility that Inverness Caledonian Thistle could still be the team that slips through the trapdoor, but Jefferies is hopeful Dunfermline's bid to remain in the top flight proves more straightforward.They enter the final three matches of a troubled term, starting at Inverness this evening, seeking three wins and a favour elsewhere, maybe from Aberdeen against Hibernian tonight, to pull off what would be a great escape. But, although the seven-point gap Hibs enjoyed at one stage looked to have pushed the Easter Road side to the edge of survival, Jefferies insists he always believed Dunfermline had it in them to pull off the seemingly impossible."When I walked in, I knew how Tom Cruise felt in Mission: Impossible," said Jefferies. "I did say to the players that, given it was four points at that time, that it wasn't impossible, there was still a chance. I probably wouldn't have taken the job if it wasn't possible."We've got a better chance now than when we walked in the door and certainly a better chance than recently. We've got it in us and it's about making sure we keep doing it and keep doing it. We might do our bit and Hibs might do it as well and they could stay up. But all we've got to do is go into the next game and try and get three points and see where we stand. Even if we lose, we'll look at the other result and, if Hibs lose, it will still be all to play for.""There are a lot of things that could happen but we just have to concentrate on ourselves. We can't control what happens at Aberdeen, we just have to hope we can get our result and if it goes our way back to back, then it will make it really exciting in the next game."While Jefferies attempts to steer Dunfermline to safety, he acknowledged the predicament he and his long-term sidekick, Billy Brown, who is now assistant to Pat Fenlon at Hibs, find themselves in. "He, along with Pat, is not trying to relegate Dunfermline and I'm not trying to relegate Hibs. What we're saying is we're trying to save our clubs to stay in the league and it just happens to be Hibs down there. It's that wee thing that football often throws up. Billy and I have been together for years and we're in opposite camps. Whatever one of us loses out the other one will gain. If it's me I'll just feel as sorry for him because I know what it's like and I'm sure Billy will be the same if it goes for him."It would be great if we could set it up for a showdown at their ground. It would be a tense affair and exciting and I'm sure everybody would like that. But it's Hibs' to lose and we're just trying to hunt them down."Gary Mason is determined to do just that. Having been a member of the Dunfermline team that suffered relegation at Inverness in 2007, he travels north tonight with belief that the Highland capital could instead host another chapter in this season's great escape."We're not thinking about what happened five years ago," the midfielder insisted. "We are concentrating on trying to get three points in Inverness. We want to be in a good position going into the Hibs game. It's going to be hard at Inverness as Terry Butcher's teams are always fired up. But in the last couple of games, we've scored seven goals and showed some real character. Hopefully we can do that again."Butcher, meanwhile, remains optimistic he can persuade Jonny Hayes to stay at the club despite Aberdeen making their move for the winger. "We've spoken to his agent. He knows our position and what we're about."

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Mission is still possible for agent Jefferies

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