Neil Lennon upbeat as Dunfermline edge out Arbroath in quarter-final first leg

Neil Lennon was upbeat after Dunfermline edged out Arbroath to seize the initiative in their Premiership play-off quarter-final.

Chris Kane’s seventh-minute strike proved decisive as the Pars secured a 1-0 victory at East End Park.

Lennon made 11 changes from the side that started the goalless draw between the teams four days earlier – and felt the decision paid off as his team made the perfect start.

“I’m delighted, it’s a win and a clean sheet – it was a hard-fought game as we expected,” Lennon said.

“It was a great move for the goal, Chris was great and used all his experience. Andy (Tod) looked really sharp at times, maybe his final ball at times let him down.

“We could have won the game by more, at 1-0 there is always tension there.

“I thought our quality could have been better on the ball at times, maybe with 10 days off there was a bit of rust.

“The game will have done them a world of good, we had a good look at Arbroath and know how physical they can be – we’ll need to stand up to that on Friday.”

The Dunfermline boss insists his side will not sit back as they look to finish the job in the second leg.

A sense of tension crept into the home support as the advantage remained just a single goal, but Lennon is keen for his side to stay on the front foot.

“We want to try to win the game and to score goals – it’s as simple as that,” he added.

“There’s no other way we can play, we’re not a team that tends to sit in. We may be forced to sit in at times.

“You can’t have everything, we’ve got the result and the clean sheet.”

Arbroath co-manager Colin Hamilton believes the tie remains finely poised and is backing his side to make the most of home advantage in the return leg.

The Red Lichties have lost just twice at Gayfield since mid-September – a record that played a key role in securing third place in the Championship.

“It’s still there for us, especially after a good second-half performance,” Hamilton said.

“We didn’t start the first half great, but when we got into it, we started to get the ball down well and could have capitalised on a few chances.

“We’re going up to our place – we know what we need to do. Our good home record gives us confidence but we also know what happens if we don’t turn up or drop our standards.

“We’ve got a group of players that fully believe they can take their opportunity, they leave everything on that park.”