Graeme`s Dumbarton return

"It will be another hard game for us. They did really well last season in winning the league and apparently they are looking good.

The Co-operative Insurance Cup match on Saturday will see Graeme Holmes return to Dumbarton where as a 20 year old, he spent eight months in season 2004-05. He played 12 matches that season in Division Two for the Sons while loaned out from Dundee United and naturally he recalls the place very well:-

"It will be another hard game for us. They did really well last season in winning the league and apparently they are looking good. It will be like the Arbroath game and we need to be prepared for that.

"They had a change of manager, Brian Fairley left and Paul Martin came in and when came in he played boys that he knew."

Graeme got a move to Airdrie United in November of 2005 and spent two and a half years in Lanarkshire. Now he is trying to stake a place in the Pars team after an injury fraught first season in Dunfermline. A start in the match against Coventry City gave him a chance to impress Jim McIntyre in the hope that his return to Dumbarton would not be a view from the bench or the stand.

Graeme felt that the two week advantage from the earlier start in pre season preparations made the difference that took the scalp of Championship side on Wednesday night:-

"They are a good team and it was a hard game but I am delighted to win against tough opposition. They got a lot of the ball especially at the start of the second half but we stuck in and did alright."

At the age of 19, Graeme came on against Dunfermline to make his Dundee United debut. That day a Crawford double and another from Brew knocked the Arabs out and Graeme only made three more appearances in tangerine. He is determined to make his mark at Dunfermline and critically reflected on his own performance:-

"It is all about getting minutes on the park and improve on last season because it was a nightmare injury wise. Every game I feel as though I am getting a wee bit better and hopefully I can keep progressing that way.

"There is quite a lot of competition for places, especially in midfield where there are five good players to choose from. Obviously for me personally it is hard to get in the team but hopefully it is a squad game and we all manage to do well."

There was a fright for the home bench when Graeme went down in the box midway into the first half on Wednesday night. He passed that one off:-

"I was running in and the defender just knocked me and I got winded. The physio ran on worried but when I told him I was winded he was relieved."

The arrival of seven new faces at Dunfermline this season means that Graeme is far from being the new boy any longer and of course two of them have followed him along the M8 from Airdrie United:-

"It is nice to have a couple of players in from Airdrie. Joe wasn`t there when I left but I was good friends with Steven. I know he is a good player and he has played up front. You could see against Coventry that he had pace to burn; he can play either wide or off the front which is a bonus."

With the arrival of Steven McDougall, Joe Cardle and Willie Gibson the strikers should see a much better service this season. Graeme expects them to be rubbing their hands together:-

"Kirkie and Baynee should be delighted because hopefully they will be getting plenty of crosses with the wingers we have got. They are really good - Davie, Joe, Willie and Steven as well."

A goal from Graeme on Saturday like the one he scored against his other old team would be nice though.