ATHLETIC assistant boss Dave Mackay is hopeful that they can "get a real good run" at next season by keeping the majority of their squad fit.

He is also hopeful that their first summer signing, Chris Kane, has his "best days" ahead of him after he returned to the club on a permanent basis.

Kane, 29, signed a two-year deal with Dunfermline last month, having spent the latter part of the campaign on loan at East End Park, after ending a near 15-year association with St Johnstone.

He first arrived at the club whilst they were in the midst of an injury crisis, which saw key players such as Kyle Benedictus, Matty Todd, Kane Ritchie-Hosler, Aaron Comrie and Craig Wighton, to name a few, suffer lengthy absences.

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"Last season was just disruption after disruption with injuries and stuff like that," Mackay commented.

"We could never really get a settled starting 11, or a settled group that you were using of 13, 14 players who were your mainstays.

"As soon as somebody came back fit, another two were getting injured, and it was just one of those seasons. Hopefully that's behind us now and next season we can get a real good run at it and keep everyone fit.

"It'll not be easy. You have to rely on a lot of luck, but if you can keep the majority of the squad fit for a long part of the season, it'll stand us in good stead."

Kane, with whom Mackay played alongside in Perth, has been Dunfermline's only close season signing so far.

Paul Allan, Alex Jakubiak, Max Little and Miller Fenton, plus youngsters Michael Beagley and Jake Rennie, have departed the club, as have loan players Owen Moffat, Ben Summers, Brad Holmes, Xavier Benjamin, Malachi Fagan-Walcott and Miles Welch-Hayes.

Full back, Josh Edwards, has been linked with several clubs south of the border, but Mackay hopes that Kane's return is an endorsement of the work being put in by manager, James McPake, and his coaching staff.

"We've done it with quite a few loan players now that have come here, enjoyed it and wanted to come back," he continued.

"Kano I'm sure would've had other options. He had other options in January when he came here, and then obviously I think five goals in 10 games, it's going to draw a bit of interest.

"We're delighted that it's done and done so quickly at the beginning of the summer. We know what we're getting with Kano.

"He knows what we're like as well, how we work, he knows the guys in the changing room, and missing 18 months, or two years, of his career, he'll be desperate just to come somewhere he knows where he's got a chance of playing. 

"If he's playing at the top of his game, and coming to an environment that he feels happy and settled in, hopefully we'll get the benefit of those two years.

"He's still at a great age, just coming towards his 30s, and he's an experienced striker. I think that's normally when you get the best out of them. You see Brian Graham at 36 having the best season of his career.

"Hopefully Kano's best days are still ahead of him. He's over that knee injury which caused him a lot of problems, and we saw last year that he can be a top player at this level."