Jim Jefferies on Friday

18/07/14: JJ - "We are expecting another tough game on Saturday at Berwick.

Kerr Young and Allan Smith played in the under 20s friendly against Gala Fairydean Rovers on Thursday night and Jim Jefferies felt that preparations for the new season were going fine.

"We are expecting another tough game on Saturday at Berwick. We will start some of the boys who have been coming on in the second half of games, the likes of Thommo and Shaun Byrne. I think it is only right but it just shows you that we have a really strong squad.

"After the Hibs game I said to the players, I know what some can do but others have stepped up to the plate and made real competition. It looks to me that it going to be very competitive to get in the team this year and that's what we want."

Saturday will see Jim Jefferies return to a club that he knows well:-

"I started out there on the senior side. We had great times once I got them organised - we didn't win a game for five weeks, I thought 'this will be a short job'! They were just about out the game, the club was just about finished when some people took them over.

"Once we got the team organised we went twenty one games undefeated before getting beat in the last game by the champions. Everybody was looking forward to the next season; I took them from the bottom of the league up into fifth place but before I could finish the job I got a shift - I will say it quietly, to Falkirk.

"Berwick was a good starting point for me. If you make a few mistakes down there, not too many people know about it! It was a good learning curve to move up to the bigger clubs. You find out what works and what doesn't work.

"Every time I go down to watch a game, because it is only 45 to 50 minutes from home, I am always well received. It has a good big pitch that is always in good condition at the start of the season. That's one of the reasons we took the fixture but you always like going back to your old club."

The manager confirmed that Faissal El Bakhtaoui would be ruled out for Saturday due to the ankle injury he sustained early on in the friendly against Hibs but he felt that the injury was responding well and the following Saturday might be a possibility.