Dunfermline: James McPake on East Fife win and Raith Rovers Fife derby

Saturday's 2-0 win at East Fife, in round three of the competition, was only their second in nine competitive games so far this season, following victory in their first, at The Spartans, in the Premier Sports Cup in July.

They entertain Raith Rovers at KDM Group East End Park seeking their first Championship success of the campaign, having picked up their first point against leaders Ayr United in their previous league encounter, and McPake said: "In terms of the performances, last week was important.

"I'll be the first to say that over the course of being in a job as a manager, not really taking anything away from that cup but it normally comes around when you’re hopefully in the next stage of the Premier Sports Cup and you use it to give people games.

"We knew we wanted to build on the point here against Ayr. We’re not in a position where we can just chop and change anyway, not to throw a game away, but to say it’s not the league, it’s not the Premier Sports Cup, it’s not the Scottish Cup. We used it last week for what we needed.

"I thought the performance was good. East Fife have started the season well. What really pleased me is they asked a lot of questions of us defensively as a team. We stood up to that and there were some good bits of play as well. I think we were more fluid than we had been in any other games.

Pars boss James McPake was pleased with his side's efforts at East Fife last weekend. (Image: Craig Brown.)

"It’s hard to look at that and see how does it compare to the Championship, how does it compare to that level of player. I think some of the play and some of the defending was really good.

"We will take that into Friday night’s game."

'You're desperate because of what it means to the fans'

McPake revealed that assistant, Dave Mackay, and Gary Montignani, watched Raith - under the charge of new boss, former Barnsley head coach, Neill Collins - in their SPFL Trust Trophy tie at Ayr United on Sunday, which they lost 3-2, having been two goals to the good.

Their Rovers counterparts were able to take a look at the Pars during their match at New Bayview, and McPake noted: "You can do some background stuff at Barnsley in the shape of playing, but they’ve got a lot of injuries as well at the minute, so the focus has been on ourselves and what we’ve seen of them at Ayr as a guide.

READ MORE: Keys to victory: Four things Pars must do to beat Raith in TV battle

"Obviously, you’re desperate because of what it means to the fans, everything that goes about that. It’s a new season, it’s one new manager, it’s a group of new players. Certainly here anyway, there’s been a fair bit of change.

"They’ve recruited pretty well as well, to be honest, (Paul) Hanlon and (Lewis) Stevenson in particular going in. I thought the games (last season) were good other than that 3-0 one (in the Scottish Cup). I think they were far better than us on that day and credit to them. They had a lot of injuries that day, completely changed their system from what they had been doing.

"They thoroughly deserved to win that game, we were nowhere near it and they were excellent on the night.

"It sounds like sour grapes when when you say there were nothing in the other games, but they were good games of football, with both teams going at it.

The Pars are hoping to turn the tables on Raith after losing five of six derby meetings last season. (Image: Craig Brown.)

"I remember the first one here, that was 1-0. It was a very good game of football, I thought, for the two teams.

"In the last game up there, we were decent in it. (Sam) Stanton scored the first one in the 2-0. He scored in the 1-0 as well - that was a good game up there as well, in the one when Bene (Kyle Benedictus) went off injured - so they were tight like you’d expect derbies to be.

"I’ve been involved in them enough where it’s a bit of a horrible score one way, or a great score if you win the game the other way.

"We take this one as a different game, it’s our chance to get our first win of the season. I think it’s two teams desperate to kick-start their season, and what a way to do it - Friday night, derby.

"There’ll be a good atmosphere in here, so we’re looking forward to it."