Dunfermline's Chris Hamilton on Pars' 'reaction' at Airdrie

The team's stand-in captain, in the absence of the injured Kyle Benedictus, felt that they should have come away from Saturday's clash with all three points, which they were denied thanks to Mason Hancock cancelling out Chris Kane's penalty.

Athletic remain second bottom of the Championship, above their opponents on goal difference, and have won only once in eight league outings this season so far.

The result did at least end a run of two successive defeats, the latter of which saw them go down at home to Queen's Park, a game that saw Hamilton subbed at half-time.

"Last week was a disappointing one, definitely, so I think this week was all about getting a reaction and putting in a performance that we can at least come away and be proud of, no matter the result," he said afterwards.

"I think we did that today. When you strip it back, we were the better team in the game, we had the chances, we were on top and should have won, but I think that's probably where we are just now.

"We're just lacking that bit of confidence to go and kill games off and then we concede one at the end.

"It was frustrating, but the reaction was definitely there. The performances were there, the work rate, especially from the front players, was definitely there and caused them a lot of problems, but slightly frustrated not to come away with three points."

Chris Hamilton celebrates on Saturday with Pars goalscorer, Chris Kane. (Image: Craig Brown.)

Hamilton noted: "When you're 1-0 up, we felt that we should have gone to kill the game off.

"We never, so when that happens, you are frustrated, and especially when we've not really won as many games this season as we feel we should have.

"Frustrated, but I think we have to take the positives. Overall, for large spells, we were the better team and we are just still waiting on that wee bit of quality to kill games off, and then we'll be fine."

Hamilton dropped back into the middle of Dunfermline's defence, alongside on-loan Birmingham City centre back, Tommy Fogarty, and produced what his manager described as a "captain's performance".

"He was excellent, and that was a player who came off last week at half-time," James McPake said.

"It's not a slight on Sam Young (who dropped to the bench) because he's been excellent. Sam is only 18 and when you're an 18-year-old, no matter what position you play - I don't even want to class it as a dip - you need protected at certain points.

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"You just need to be very mindful of his age, particularly when he's a centre-back. Having Hammy go in there, he's done it here before against (Nikolay) Todorov, and he was excellent against the big striker (Aaron Reid) today as well.

James McPake said Hamilton produced a captain's performance on Saturday. (Image: Craig Brown.)

"I have no qualms in putting Hammy in there. He doesn't care where he plays. He just loves playing for this club. I agree it was a captain's performance.

"I thought he was excellent, and closely followed by Chris Kane and Craig Wighton today. I thought those two caused them all sorts of problems.

"Had we got that second goal then that's the game done in my opinion. We would have been comfortable."

On his defensive role, Hamilton continued: "I feel really comfortable going back there.

"It is somewhere I have played a lot in my career. I feel comfortable. Joe (Chalmers) and Craig (Clay) did a good job in midfield as well. Joe adds that wee bit of quality in midfield.

"The game never really settled down today to really get Joe on the ball, it was more of a battle. The two of them battled away and, defensively, I thought we were strong for most of the game.

"The one we concede was slightly frustrating. It was from a quick throw-in and a few of us were out of position. They managed to get the ball in the box, then it breaks to them and they get the goal back."

Hamilton also had praise for Fogarty, after his first game partnering the Northern Ireland under-21 international in the backline, adding: "Yeah, he helped out a lot.

"He's good, he's a solid player. He likes to go and win his battles, win his headers and his tackles, and he talks a lot, which is good.

"It's just about building relationships and, if that's where I’m going to play the next few weeks or moving forward, then I will try to build relationships with the people in there.

"I think Ewan Otoo going in at left back, he’s been moved about a few times this season as well, and does a job for the team.

“Everyone's pulling their weight, everyone's digging in and working as hard as we can, and hopefully those wee breaks will come, and we'll start to win a few games."