LOAN star Coll Donaldson has insisted he’s “all-in” when it comes to giving everything for the Athletic cause – and is not prepared to see them face Championship relegation.

The 27-year-old, who arrived from Ross County in January until the end of the season, is determined not to have Pars fans going into the summer facing League One football next year as the current campaign comes to a close.

This weekend, they entertain Ayr United, who are three points above Dunfermline in ninth, and the relegation play-off place, in eighth.

A win by more than one goal would lift the Pars above their opponents with two games left and, speaking to Press Sport, Donaldson, who scored in February’s draw between the teams at Somerset Park, is under no illusions as to how important the 90 minutes will be.

“It’s definitely a massive game. There’s no hiding away from that,” he said. “But I think the one positive that we can take is that we’ve had massive games now for three, four months, especially the home games.

“I think when when you’re in this sort of relegation battle, you look to your home games to win. The last three home games has been where our best football’s been.

“We’ve dealt with that pressure. The Raith Rovers game, it’s a derby so there’s even more pressure on that, and I felt we, comfortably, won the football match.

“We’ve got to take positives from those games and use them going into Saturday which is, obviously, a massive game.

“When you’re in mid-table, you’ll have some games where, subconsciously, you’re not thinking about it as much. But, when you’re in games that you need to win, you need to get three points, you see what it means to the fans as well.

“I’m a football fan. I know what it’s like; I’m not out of touch with what it’s like, and I see the joy that we bring.

“When we won that derby, I can see what it means to the fans, and I don’t want to be part of a team that lets fans go over the summer looking at playing in League One next year.

“That’s not what I’m looking to do. I’m looking to give them as much of a positive end to the season as we can.

“It’s still not a great season – a club like Dunfermline shouldn’t be, with three games to go, fighting for their lives to get out of a play-off or relegation in general – but that’s the motivation I take from that.”

Looking back to the weekend, when the Pars were beaten at Kilmarnock, Donaldson felt it was as "tough a game" as he's been involved in since arriving at the club.

It came swiftly after a fine performance against Raith Rovers, and he continued: "That's probably been us though, hasn't it? That's the highs and lows of football.

"I've said to the boys that, when we play the way we play, it's as good a team that I've been involved in at this level. Look at our forward players; Dom (Thomas), Poly (Liam Polworth), Stevie (Lawless), Kev (Kevin O'Hara), even the two midfielders, two full backs. How they manipulate the ball and move teams around at home, and when we win those games, it's like how can we not just turn up and do that?

"But it's not as easy as that. You look at a Derek McInnes type of coach, and he's had that reputation for being able to stop teams doing what they want to do, and it's exactly what happened on Saturday.

"We need to get that different side to us that, when a team's not just going to come and stand five yards off us and let us pass the ball around them, that we've got that other side to us that we can go and match it physically and nick a win when we aren't at our best."

When asked if it was important to play the game, not the occasion, against Ayr, Donaldson replied: "I would probably say it's the opposite way. That's the way I look at it.

"Everyone's different; I could say I'll be playing it like any other game, and I'll be trying to do my best, and I think you can get caught up in it and you can forget what you're good at.

"If you get caught up in it, we start banging it long and getting away from where we've got success, at home especially, which is by moving the ball, passing the ball, and not being tense and getting caught up in it.

"I'll not be getting caught up in the occasion to be honest. I'll be trying to do my best and I prepare for pretty much every game the same. It is a cliche answer, but I genuinely do; I don't get any different for, say, playing in a Scottish Cup semi or playing in a league game in the Championship."

A win for Dunfermline would take them level on points with their opponents - and possibly out of the bottom two if they score enough goals - and, asked if that makes it easier for Dunfermline in terms of their approach, Donaldson said: "There's pros and cons to both ways isn't there? If you're playing for a draw, you can get behind the ball and be hard to beat.

"We played Morton here a couple of weeks ago, and they weren't going all out to win the game, and it was difficult to break down.

"Sometimes if you play a team, like we played Partick Thistle, who tried to match us in every way and we came away (winning 4-1). Sometimes those games are a wee bit easier when a team's trying to attack, and you're going blow for blow, whereas if you're playing a team that's 11 men behind the ball, it's hard to break down.

"We've got take care of ourselves. Our performance on Saturday wasn't good enough so, naturally, there has to be a reaction from Saturday. Let's not try to worry too much about what Ayr are doing.

"Obviously, you need to take into account what they're going to try and do, and their strengths and weaknesses, but let's take care of ourselves on Saturday first and, hopefully, that will be enough to win the football match."

In spite of their battle to avoid the drop, Donaldson has been enjoying his time at East End, and feels he is back to playing at his best.

"I would say this is the most comfortable I've felt playing from probably the Inverness the days," he added.

"I feel confident within myself and I'm just trying to help the team to be honest.

"It's been hard. It is mentally hard; when you get beat on a Saturday, I might be old fashioned like that, but I was meant to be playing golf with my wee brother yesterday - just, nah, no chance. It's just as well bloody Hearts won on Saturday or I'd have been absolutely beyond depressed!

"It can take over your life. You have to try and separate the work from personal life."