Seve aware of Pars danger

HEARTS star Scott Severin today warned his team-mates they will be facing a Dunfermline side more fired up than ever at Tynecastle tomorrow.

The Pars travel to Gorgie knowing they must go for broke in search of the win they need to keep alive hopes of claiming third spot while just a point would ensure the Jambos finish ‘the best of the rest’ for a second successive season.

The East End Park outfit also have the added incentive of Scottish Cup final places to play for with tomorrow’s clash in the Capital coming just two weeks before the Pars take on Celtic at Hampden.

And far from having one eye on that game, Severin expects the showpiece match to focus the Dunfermline players, who will be desperate to impress boss Jimmy Calderwood and ensure they are involved.

The Fifers go into this weekend’s game on the back of a stunning 2-1 victory over Martin O’Neill’s men in last Sunday’s dress rehearsal for the big day and Severin knows they will take plenty of confidence from that result.

"It’s going to be a very difficult game," the Scotland internationalist said.

"They will take a lot of confidence from their win at Celtic Park last weekend and they still have third place in the league and places in the cup final team to play for.

"They played really well through in Glasgow and deserve enormous credit for battling out a win there as it’s not something many teams can claim to have done this season.

"There’s no way it will be just another end of season game because there is a lot at stake for both teams. We have to make sure we are as up for it as they are.

"The more games that they win the more confidence they will build up ahead of the cup final.

"They will be flying after their win last weekend and the fact they could close the gap on us to three points will ensure they are right up for it. They will know it’s a must win game for them and will, I’m sure, be going all out to make that happen."

While Dunfermline have plenty to play for so too do Severin and his team-mates and the midfielder insists everyone at the club is determined to finally kill off the Pars challenge and claim third place for a second successive season.

"We have been in third place for most of the season now so nobody wants to give it up," said Severin.

"We have the chance to tie up third spot once and for all and hopefully we can do that. While they are going well so are we and I think we have only lost one game in our last 14.

"The lads are all pretty confident and we are coming off a really good win up at Dundee United.

" We had drawn a few too many matches before that but we returned to winning ways at just the right time with this game in mind.

"We’ve had a really good week’s training and with things having dragged on for a while now we all want to get it sealed."

Games between the teams so far this season have been close affairs with one win apiece and a share of the spoils the last time they clashed at the end of February.

And despite there being a lot at stake for either side Severin is confident both sets of players can continue their recent trend of producing exciting matches for the fans.

"Except for the last game which ended 0-0 the games between ourselves and Dunfermline have tended to be exciting matches with goals.

"I know there is a lot at stake this weekend but even still hopefully the fans will get the kind of game they have become used to when the two of us play. We have a good home record against them in recent years and hopefully that will count for something although obviously every game is new and anything can happen."

Tomorrow’s match is the first since the board announced they are to stay at Tynecastle for a further season and while the players have been trying their best to put the off-field goings-on to the back of their mind Severin admits it will make playing easier now the future has been cleared up.

He said: "The players haven’t really talked about the whole stadium thing a lot but it’s obviously good to finally know what is happening.

"It’s a great stadium to play in and when it’s busy you get a really good atmosphere as you saw against Celtic in our last home game.

"It will keep most of the supporters happy to know we are staying at Tynecastle and hopefully as many of them as possible will turn out to see the game.

"I suppose this is a bit of a derby and Dunfermline usually take a decent support through to the game so hopefully our fans will come out in their numbers as well.

"With a bit of luck our fans won’t only be celebrating staying at Tynecastle for another year but also finishing in third place in the league for the second year in a row."

Taken from the Scotsman