THREE of Athletic's rising stars have put pen to paper on contract extensions tying them to the club for another two years.

Teenage trio Andrew Tod, Taylor Sutherland and Sam Young have each signed deals keeping them at KDM Group East End Park until 2026.

Midfielder Tod, 18, is the eldest son of Pars legend Andy and returned to Dunfermline in 2021 from the Hibernian academy, having joined the former Fife Elite Football Academy, in 2016, as an Athletic registered player.

He had a loan spell with Elgin City in League Two last season and has made seven first team appearances this season, including a start against Airdrieonians in Dunfermline's Championship opener, but has not played since September due to a knee problem, from which he has now recovered.

Dunfermline Press:

Fellow 18-year-old Young, a centre back and former Dunfermline High School pupil, joined the club in 2016, and spent the first half of the current campaign on loan with Lowland League outfit East Stirlingshire, whilst Sutherland, 19, progressed through Fife Elite before arriving at Dunfermline in 2021.

The forward, who had a stint on loan with League Two Bonnyrigg Rose earlier in the season, has featured regularly in Dunfermline's match day squad, predominantly as a substitute, and scored his first senior goal for the club in a Viaplay Cup win at Albion Rovers in July.

Pars manager, James McPake, said: "I’m delighted with it.

"When we first came into the football club and having conversations with the board, a big thing for me at the time was they were keen on getting the academy going.

READ MORE: 'He's our leader': Pars boss praises captain's return

"The academy was back to being Dunfermline Athletic’s academy and we were building it back up again and as a football club we’re looking to produce young players from our academy. Those three, we believe, can go and play in the first-team.

"They’ve got a lot of work to do but Andrew has shown he can start games, and Taylor’s shown he can come on in games. Sam has done it in a good way by going out [on loan] and got minutes.

"He played against a decent Dundee team in a cup game (the SPFL Trust Trophy) up there last year. For centre-halves, they are normally a bit longer in terms of when they get in to the team, compared to at the top end of the pitch.

"It’s been a frustrating one with Andrew. Seeing him back in training, he could actually be helping us in every game, because he’s a good player.

"Taylor’s the same. It’s probably a bit frustrating for him at the minute because there’s games where you’re thinking we could put him on for a goal. But just with the position we’re in and the injuries we’ve had, you just don’t know what’s right and when it’s fair for the kids.

"I don’t think we can ever be accused of not putting the young ones on, because it’s something we did at Dundee as well, and something we’re very proud of from up there.

"A lot of the players I had in my under-18s team up at Dundee are now under-21 internationals, which is not down to me but the fact they are good players.

"But, up there, we were brave enough to put them in, and we’ll be the same here."