JAMES MCPAKE says that there are things for his Athletic side to work on but hailed Lewis McCann as "the best player on the pitch" after yesterday's Fife derby.
The Pars boss was delighted with the impact of his 22-year-old forward, who scored the opening goal in the Viaplay Cup, Group F opener at Raith Rovers.
Northern Ireland under-21 cap McCann's strike put Dunfermline ahead in what was an entertaining encounter at Stark's Park, but Dylan Easton's superb equaliser ensured the spoils were shared.
Athletic, who host Annan Athletic on Tuesday evening, went on to secure a bonus point in the resulting penalty shoot-out, with Matty Todd's successful kick completing a 4-2 success.
READ MORE: Pars secure Viaplay Cup penalty bonus point after Rovers derby draw
Afterwards, McPake described the 90 minutes as a "mixed bag" from his side, but singled out McCann for praise.
"He was excellent. For me, the best player on the pitch in my opinion," the manager commented.
"Maybe that’s a biased view, but I just thought he looked a threat. I think he had five goal attempts in the first half. He has come back in pre-season fit and strong, and one thing about him is he is so desperate to do well. When he is like that he is really tough.
"Keith Watson (Rovers captain) is a very experienced and good centre back, and that would have been a tough game for Keith today as well. He handled him pretty well as well; it was a good tussle, but not many people will like playing against Lewis when he is at it.
"It is up to him now. He has got to be at it like that week in, week out. Even when he is not great, when things aren’t coming off for him, he is still a massive threat given how powerful and strong he is.
"If we can keep him at a consistent level then we have a very good player."
On the match itself, and when asked if there were plenty of positives to take, McPake said: "In terms of character, work rate and togetherness, that showed today again that it is still there.
"They had to do a lot of defending. I thought we defended the box pretty well at certain times, Kyle Benedictus in particular. Other centre backs need to start winning headers, and we have told them that, but they know that themselves.
"When you are this early in pre-season, I don’t know in friendlies how many teams will put as many crosses into your box or, not direct because they are not a direct team, but will ask you questions the way they did today.
"Maybe that’s on us and work we need to do with the games coming. Normally Ewan Otoo, Rhys Breen and Sam Fisher are excellent at doing that. They showed that last season.
"It’s a mixed bag in terms of positives and negatives. If it was a league game I’d be delighted going away with a point."
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