Kenny survives Pars crisis talks

Stephen Kenny's side had been favourites for promotion

Dunfermline Athletic's board has decided to back underfire manager Stephen Kenny - for now.

The Pars held a series of crisis meetings on Monday involving Kenny, director of football Jim Leishman and chairman John Yorkston.

Yorkston said: "Results have not been good and we are certainly not where we would want to be in the league.

"But we back Stephen and look to a rapid improvement in results and performances."

Interview: Dunfermline chairman John Yorkston

The meetings followed Saturday's 3-0 Division One defeat by Stirling Albion.

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Defeat left the Pars, who started the season among the promotion favourites, 16 points adrift of surprise leaders Hamilton Academical.

And it followed a 5-0 thrashing at home to the high-flying Accies.

"There has also been a lot of injuries to key players at the club and we hope to have a number of those back very soon," added Yorkston.

"We had 12 players out on Saturday, which affects his selection choice."

However, Yorkston stressed that he expected the team's fortunes to improve soon.

"We did not expect it to be easy in Division One, but we also did not expect to be two points off the bottom," he told BBC Sport.

"We have given Stephen the opportunity to turn things around."