DUNFERMLINE boss James McPake praised "leader" Kyle Benedictus after welcoming him back to his team for Saturday's Fife derby.

The 32-year-old made his first appearance of an injury-hit season since late December by leading his team-mates out at Raith Rovers, but his comeback was spoiled with a 2-0 defeat.

Benedictus, who skippered the Stark's Park club before moving to Athletic in the summer of 2022, completed the 90 minutes in only his 11th game of the campaign, which has seen him suffer a fracture in his foot, and a thigh problem.

"I thought he was excellent. He really was. It's not easy for him coming back here," McPake said following the loss in Kirkcaldy.

READ MORE: Pars boss says Raith 'deserved' Fife derby win

"We were swithering whether to play him on Tuesday against Airdrie, but we decided to give him the extra few days training.

"I think he cruised through the game for everything he had to do. It's great having him back because he is our leader, and you could hear how vocal he was on the pitch.

"He's hurting in there. Of course he is. He wanted to come back to this club where he played for so long - he had a great time here - and win for us.

Dunfermline Press:

"He's in there, he's annoyed, he's frustrated, but I was pleased with his performance, not too many more."

Benedictus made more than 200 appearances for Rovers during a seven-year stint at Stark's Park, but found himself on the receiving end of stick from some home fans.

He said that the fact he was on the losing side against his old club didn't make the result hurt any more, and was frustrated the Pars couldn't make more of periods in which they were on top.

"It is frustrating. It’s probably happened in every league game we’ve played [against Raith]," he added.

"That’s not taking anything away from Raith. They’ve managed to get the three points every time, so well done to them, but we need to look at ourselves and we need to be more clinical.

"In the moments in games, they’ve managed to take them and we’ve not."