ASSISTANT boss Dave Mackay believes that the adaptability of Athletic's squad will play a significant part if they are to enjoy a successful campaign.

The Pars, who begin their competitive fixtures with their first Premier Sports Cup, Group E match at Spartans this Saturday, lost out to top flight St Mirren in their third pre-season friendly at the weekend.

Olutoysi Olusanya's first half effort edged the contest in favour of the Paisley side, who are preparing to play in the Europa Conference League qualifiers later this month, but there were plus points for the home side.

One of those was the return to the starting line-up for Ewan Otoo, who missed Dunfermline's final three games of last season with a knee injury.

Dunfermline Press:

That came after he had started 37 league and cup games last season - playing in all-but 31 minutes of those - and his 60-minute run-out against the Buddies was his first of pre-season.

When asked how pleased he was Otoo was back involved, Mackay, who said forward, Chris Kane, is due to be involved in the final friendly with Dundee, commented: "Brilliant.

"You could see in the first half the quality and running power he has got. It is brilliant to have him back - we have missed him. There are a lot of positives there and David Wotherspoon got more minutes into his legs as did Kieran Ngwenya who came in later.

"A lot of boys have yet to get quite up to speed. Chris Kane is back training and he will be involved on Wednesday. We are getting there, we have more or less the full squad and we are looking forward to the real stuff starting next week.

"We have not got a big squad as everybody knows. It is a small, compact squad, so you need everybody fit and available.

READ MORE: Pars make move to clinch midfielder's signature

"We have players who can fill in different positions. You saw Kane Ritchie-Hosler playing more central later on in the game and I thought he was excellent in there. We have got players who are adaptable and I think that’s what we are going to need in terms of the size of squad that we are going to have to work with."

Dunfermline started well in the match, with Lewis McCann, Kyle Benedictus, Chris Hamilton and Craig Wighton having early sights of goal, but fell behind in the 26th minute when Olusanya converted from Oisin Smyth's centre.

Otoo stung the palms of the away keeper, a trialist, and McCann came close again, before Kane Ritchie-Hosler sent a shot over the bar before the break.

Mikael Mandron and Lewis Jamieson, who also struck the upright, had chances for Saints, whilst Taylor Sutherland and Ritchie-Hosler had further opportunities for the Pars, but they couldn't find a leveller.

"We knew that it would be a tough test against a team that is playing in Europe in the next couple of weeks," Mackay continued.

"They had a great season, they are a physical team and they are really well drilled. You can see that at throw ins etcetera, just how well they work them. They are a really good team; physical and athletic.

"We knew that it was going to be a good test and it turned out that way, I thought we gave a decent account of ourselves. We created some chances but in terms of a pre-season game it was a good work out for us."

He added: "Some of the build up stuff was excellent but, on the flip side, we gave away loads of chances through our own carelessness rather than St Mirren’s great play.

"We caused our own problems but that is stuff that we will get better at over the course of the season, make better decisions when players tire and get sloppy. There are a lot of positives today."