NO OLD PALS' ACT WITH MATE RIX AS BURCH BIDS TO HEAP PRESSURE ON TO BAIRNS

MARK BURCHILL will put his friendship with Hearts boss Graham Rix to one side today as Dunfermline bid to pile the pressure on Falkirk in the SPL drop zone.

The striker is desperate to lead the Pars to consecutive league wins for the first time this season when Rix's side visit East End Park.

Jim Leishman's men are just four points behind the Bairns and are aiming to drag them into a relegation scrap that until now has only included Dunfermline and Livingston.

Burchill's team-mates were reeling last weekend when Airdrie bundled them out of the Scottish Cup.

But their league form over the festive season was good and Burchill, who missed the cup exit with a hamstring strain, reckons they can carry it on against the Jambos, where he spent five months on loan last season.

Burchill said: "We've got to make amends for the cup exit and build on the league form we've shown of late, which has been promising.

"We were really unlucky to only draw 3-3 with Rangers when Lee Makel was harshly sent off and we followed that up with a 2-1 win at Falkirk.

"They are now only four points ahead of us and we're aiming to leapfrog them as quickly as possible.

"We know they'll be trying their damnedest to stay in the clear and we accept we have to find a bit of consistency.

"There's no point winning one game, losing a couple and drawing another. We have to take points from every game.

"For much of the season we've been battling it out at the bottom with Livi but I reckon there could soon be three or four clubs drawn in.

"A win against Hearts could take us a step closer towards where we want to go."

When he was at Portsmouth Rix paid £800,000 to sign Burchill from Celtic four years ago.

But his chances of making a long-term impact at Fratton Park were ruined by a knee ligament injury.

Burchill, 25, keeps in touch with his former gaffer and has backed him to be a success at Tynecastle even if he hopes to damage his title ambitions this afternoon.

Burchill said: "Graham's doing a good job at Hearts and getting his message across. There's a seven-point gap between them and Celtic but that's nothing as they still have to play each other twice.

"In fact, I can see Rangers and Hibs also coming into contention so it's going to be as competitive up there in the second half of the season as it is down our end." Pars boss Leishman has already had a clutch of trialists at East End Park this month as he bids to bolster his squad during the transfer window.

Burchill is delighted to see his gaffer working to strengthen the team.

But he insists they already have enough quality at the club to cope with the challenges of the months ahead. Burchill said: "Everyone would love to get a couple of new faces in.

"We're short of wide men and pretty thin on strikers and midfielders.

"However, if the squad currently here is all we have until the end of the season it is still good enough to get us out of our league situation and help us progress to the CIS Cup Final as well."

Taken from the Daily Record