DAVE MACKAY says that rivals Raith Rovers have Dunfermline's respect but is confident of Scottish Cup progress if they play to their best.

The BBC Scotland television cameras will return to KDM Group East End Park tomorrow (Friday) night for the tie of the third round, with the derby foes going head-to-head.

It will be the fourth meeting of the clubs so far this season, with the Kirkcaldy visitors winning both Championship encounters by a single goal, after the Pars claimed a bonus point, penalty shoot-out win in a Viaplay Cup group stage game in July, after a 1-1 draw.

The Pars will feel that they haven't come out of the two league matches with Raith with what they've deserved for their efforts, and assistant boss Mackay is hoping that fortune will come down on their side tomorrow evening.

"There's times you go through spells when you're not winning games, you're losing games, and form isn't great either, but that's not been the case," he told Press Sport.

"We've certainly deserved more than one point out the last two games (against Dundee United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle) with performance and chances created but, ultimately, we've not turned those performances into points.

"We're not playing for points at the weekend, but we're playing for something probably more important at the minute, to get through to the next round of the cup, which is our full focus.

"If we carry through our performance levels through to Friday night, we're pretty positive that we will come away with the win.

"We respect every opposition and we'll do everything we can to analyse them, see where they've hurt us in the past and where they might hurt us, because they've got some very good players, especially in the middle to front areas of the pitch.

"They've got players that can score goals, they can create chances, and they're always going to be a real threat. We have to be aware of the threat that they possess, but we also know we've caused them a lot of problems ourselves, and if it was for maybe a little bit better finishing or end product, the games we've lost to them in the league, then they would've been turned into victories.

"We know we're not far away from what we need to get the victory on Friday, but we also respect Raith Rovers for what they've done this season, and know that it's going to be a really tough encounter."

Mackay admitted that drawing Ian Murray's side, who are unbeaten in their last eight games and second in the Championship, is one of the toughest draws Dunfermline could have been given, but insists it's one to relish.

"It's a tough game," he continued. "But it's also an exciting one. It's one we fancy our chances in.

"I think in the three games we've played against them, including the cup at the beginning of the season, they've been tough games, they've been close encounters, and we feel as though we've been a wee bit unfortunate in them.

"Hopefully this week we can turn that fortune around and finally get a win against them.

"We know if we play to our best we fancy our chances to beat any team. We just have to try and take care of our performance. Sometimes you can't affect other things, like Saturday there, hitting the woodwork so many times, things going against you.

"It's just part and parcel of football that there could be things like that happen in games, where you're unfortunate, but we believe if we perform to that same sort of level, we'll give ourselves a very good chances of winning on Friday night."