Dunfermline: Joe Chalmers discusses facing old club Inverness

But, whilst Inverness Caledonian Thistle provided him with some of the fondest experiences of his career so far, that won't stop the Pars midfielder looking for a win to match their recent performance levels.

With both teams out of the SPFL Trust Trophy, the quarter-finals of which are being contested, they will go head-to-head at KDM Group East End Park in a match that has been rearranged from its original midweek date last month.

It will give Chalmers and his Athletic pals the opportunity to put their late defeat to Dundee United behind them, with a victory enough to take them above fourth-placed Airdrieonians on goal difference.

However, they face an Inverness side that have been revitalised under the management of former Everton hero, and Scotland international, Duncan Ferguson, who is unbeaten in his five league matches at the helm.

They've won three of those, including their last, at home to Ayr United, and Chalmers is anticipating a tough match against the club he spent two years with.

It's an encounter he's relishing, though, telling Press Sport: "It was two of the best years I've had in my career. I loved every minute of it up there. I loved staying up there, my son was born up there - it's just a good place, and a club that looked after me. They've still got some of the staff, and the players that I played with there.

"It's always nice to see them, and I've got nothing but good things to say about my time at Inverness.

"You want to beat them because you don't want to be going to speak to people after the game and they've got one over on you so, definitely, it's one I want to win.

"They've got a different manager from the one we faced at the start of the season. They seem be in good form, and they've got good players, so, again, every game you go into on a Saturday in this league, you know you're going to be in for a tough game. If you dip below the levels then you're going to be up against it."

Chalmers is hoping his team can take their performance against United and add three points to it this weekend. (Image: Craig Brown.)

The arrival in the Highlands of Ferguson, who went on to coach at Goodison Park after the end of his playing career, before taking up his first managerial role at Forest Green Rovers earlier this year, has generated plenty of interest.

"I don't know much about him as a manager," Chalmers noted. "I obviously know about him as a player; he's not a man I think you'd want to get on the wrong side of!

"They played Dundee United last week (before their game with Ayr) and, doing our work on Dundee United, we saw a wee bit of them. They played some really nice football, and passed the ball really well, so I think that must be their style which Inverness, over the years, always seem to do.

"It should be a good game."

Chalmers and his team-mates, as well as his manager, James McPake, felt Dunfermline were unfortunate not to take anything against Championship leaders United, who grabbed a late winner from Chris Mochrie, who spent last season on loan at East End.

Ahead of winning at Greenock Morton seven days prior to that game, they had been unlucky to lose in stoppage time at Raith Rovers and, when asked if their performance against the Tangerines was a positive to take going forward, the 29-year-old said: "Yes, because the Raith game was a performance we thought that we deserved something out of the game as well. You don't want to sit here and be saying we played well but we don't get the points, because the points are the main thing.

"If we can keep turning out those kinds of performance then, as the manager and Dave said in there, they're convinced we'll go on a good run.

"There's still a lot of confidence in the changing room amongst the players. We believe in each other, the manager believes in us, and we're all still positive and working towards the same thing.

"We've got a good team spirit and, every game we go into, we believe we can win because we've got good players."