Manager on Friday

06/08/10:- JM "the team that comes down are not always as big favourites as the bookies make them. Leagues certainly aren't wo

Jim McIntyre claims that his whole playing squad are looking forward to not just the opening game of the league season but also the early clash against Steven Pressley's Falkirk:-

"It is a great game to start the campaign with a derby game.The boys are really looking forward to going."

No one at Dunfermline is concerned that they kick off against the team that's favouriters to win promtion to the SPL:-

"Falkirk are favourites because they have just been relegated - that comes with coming down.  We have seen before that the team that comes down are not always as big favourites as the bookies make them.Leagues certainly aren't won in the bookies.

"It will be a really hard game, they are a good side.  We have had them watched a couple of times and they play the game the right way. They try to pass it and move it, move you about and they have some clever players, but so we have we. We have got to put our game plan onto them and try and win the game."

It is a short journey to the Falkirk Stadium but the Manager still would have liked to have faced the Bairns in West Fife rather than Westfield.

"I would have liked the game at home, because you always want to start at home, but we have shown in previous seasons that going away from home doesn't hold any fears for us. It is all about the players on the day producing."

Most of the 1950 tickets allotted to Dunfermline have been sold so the ground will be buzzing and the players will love that just as much as the fans:-

"I believe that we have sold the vast majority of our tickets and that means the Pars fans will be travelling in large numbers which is great for us - great for me, great for the players.  Our away support is superb, they get right behind us and hopefully we can give them a performance to be proud of."

There will be a good atmosphere for the match and Macca said that these are the kind of games that all footballers want to be involved in.

"We have had a couple of Cup runs over the last couple of seasons, and the big games are where players get the chance to test themselves.It is a bigger test than playing in front of 1200 people for instance in recent cup competitions.  It is a big game and the boys really enjoyed the Raith Rovers games last year; this is another one of that magnitude in terms of the size of the crowd expected.  Hopefully we can get similar results."

Alex Keddie and Steven Bell miss the first two SFL First Division matches through suspensions carried over from last season, but Bell would have missed this match anyway since he is carrying an Achilles injury that he incurred in the Alba Challenge Cup game versus Arbroath.His injury is not healing as fast as he would have wanted and he is expected to receive an injection on Monday.

"That is not great because obviously he is missing out on a bit of fitness.  He is on the bike and doing a bit of light work."

The Manager commented upon the Co-operative Insurance Cup draw made on Friday morning that brings Clyde to East End Park.

"All you can ask for is a home tie and we have been drawn against a team that people will expect us to beat.It doesn't always work out like that. You have got to make sure that you give them the respect that they deserve and prepare properly, and we will do."