ELATED Ayr United boss Mark Kerr said his team would not shirk from winning ugly after they began 2020 on a real high.

The Honest Men started the New Year by defeating playoff rivals Dunfermline Athletic 1-0 at East End Park.

Kerr said his team must be prepared to adapt. He said:”That was what we were needing today.

We were winning 50-50s on the edge of the box. It wasn’t great to watch at times but it’s something we need in our game because we’re going into a period where we need to battle and we need to fight. Some fans are uneasy because of results but the boys are working hard. I’m more than confident we can kick on and get results although it might be through a different style of play.

Dunfermline had an ugly win at our place by playing man-on-man against our wingers. We thought we would play percentages, get them stretched and settle into the game.”

The boss was delighted with the goal and said: “The goal summed up how we were playing, we stretched them, played them across, won the second ball and Alan Forrest hit a shot, which wasn’t a great one but Craig Moore got on the end of it.”

Moore was injured in the challenge for the goal but should be fine for Saturday’s trip to Dundee.

He said: “Moorey has a dead leg and a few stud marks but should be fine by Thursday.”