JIM JEFFERIES' players will take on Falkirk tonight with their minds "scrambled" by the news that an administrator has been appointed by the troubled club.
The Dunfermline manager believes it is "amazing" the club even has a first-team squad willing to turn out after months of financial problems that have left some unable to afford to put petrol in their cars to drive to training.
Jefferies emerged from yesterday's meeting with Jim Leishman and Professional Footballers' Association trio Fraser Wishart, Jack Ross and Stuart Lovell wearing the stunned look of someone trying to come to terms with the repercussions of the last-ditch move to avoid liquidation.
The uncertainty surrounding Dunfermline's future since wages went unpaid in October has now been replaced by the unpredictability of administration.
"I can't answer that," admitted Jefferies when asked whether he was more optimistic following yesterday's turn of events. "I don't think anyone can until the administrator comes in. We've heard he [Bryan Jackson] is a decent guy but he still has a job to do. People have to accept he may be ruthless. Right now we're all in the dark.
"How do you know how the players will feel? They won't do anything intentionally but their minds are totally scrambled right now."
The former Hearts, Bradford City and Kilmarnock manager continued: "I've never faced anything like this. I've been at clubs where administration has been mentioned a few times but it has never got to this stage.
"So, it's a first for me. I don't know how it will affect everyone at the club. It will come down to what the administrator sees and does, and what cuts he makes. We're going into a game and it might be better if we didn't have one. But we have to deal with it."
With the prospect of liquidation still hanging over the club, Jefferies is eager to learn as soon as possible how the Scottish Football League will deal with the club's move into administration, with a large points deduction certain to plunge them into a relegation battle.
However, the players will at least go into this evening's match with Falkirk on the back of a financial boost of sorts after it was revealed that £9000 raised in bucket collections at the recent matches against Raith Rovers and Dumbarton and at under-20 matches had been distributed yesterday to make up for part of the shortfall in February's salaries.
Although the timing was cruelly ironic, Jefferies insisted the fans' support was massively appreciated by players whose professionalism through some dark days had shown them in a good light.
"When it first started it was maybe half of the wages and half at a later stage, then it was 10% and 20%," added Jefferies. "I don't think for the last three months we've had the full wage up until the last minute and then two days later we're into a new month's wages. The players were wondering whether that new month would get back to the full month. But it didn't, it started again on 20%, so the players were struggling financially, they were struggling to get in for training, they were struggling to meet their costs.
"It's amazing they're still here, it's amazing they're still in that dressing-room, sticking together, because a lot of them could have taken legal advice from the PFA and probably had a good case for the club breaching their contract and they could have walked. But they've stuck together and the fans have appreciated that and rallied round.
"The players have just been given a set of envelopes. We've been well short of last month's wages and it's not the full amount they've been given, but it's a certain percentage which has come from the supporters. It's fantastic. They couldn't possibly give us the whole amount but what came in on Saturday from donations from supporters and that sort of thing has been divided up on a percentage basis. That's a fantastic thing for the supporters to do and well appreciated by the boys.
"That's why I've said to the players to go out and do their best for them, because if they're prepared to do that, they deserve some sort of reward."
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