Pars assistant Dave Mackay said the Dunfermline players have taken training “up another level” recently and are carrying that into games.
Dunfermline dished out a 4-0 thrashing to Peterhead at East End Park and missed multiple opportunities to score a few more.
At 3-0 the home side were afforded the luxury of making five changes in quick succession.
This gave some players some much-needed – and deserved – game time and to rest a few others ahead of the rearranged cup tie versus Dundee on Tuesday.
Craig Wighton opened the scoring after a free-flowing move before Matty Todd curled in a stunning second.
An emphatic Josh Edwards finish made it three before substitute Kevin O’Hara – making his return from injury – scored his first goal of the season.
Pleasing
“I thought the first five-10 minutes we weren’t great but we slowly found ourselves on top and loads of the ball,” said Mackay.
“The first couple of goals were excellent, a few good goals, but the first two in particular I thought we were excellent in the way we moved the ball.
“It’s a pleasing performance and result today in difficult conditions.”
Peterhead rarely carried a threat but it is the kind of match the Pars have sometimes struggled in and they seemed desperate to avoid a repeat of the last time these sides met at East End Park.
On that day the Blue Toon fought back from two goals down for a point.
“The standard in training recently has gone to a different level between the boys,” added Mackay.
“And that comes from having a full almost fit squad – other than Paul Allan.
“We’re training well, we’re taking it into matches and when boys play they know they need to step it up or else they’ll be out the team.”
The Pars assistant was particularly pleased for O’Hara and Robbie Mahon, who combined for the fourth.
Both players – for different reasons – have struggled for game time recently.
‘Like he’s never been away’
“I’m delighted for Robbie because his game time has been limited but one thing I’ll say, his attitude is outstanding.
“He’s got a lot of quality and I’m delighted he came on there and made an impact.”
On O’Hara, Mackay added: “It’s like he’s never been away.
“Some players it will take a lot of time to get back up to speed when they’ve had a long-term injury, but Kevin is the type to just come back, he’s hit the ground running.”
Peterhead boss David Robertson said his side were “a bit unlucky” to be two goals behind at the break.
“I thought the performance was good in patches in the game, but we’re conceding easy goals,” he said.
