Last summer’s pre-season for Dunfermline was about bringing back a winning mentality.
A gradual build-up in opposition saw the Pars lose just one of their warm-up fixtures – a 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock.
This year has been a bit more unusual.
Besides starting with an early match versus second-tier German opposition, Dunfermline have scheduled back-to-back games versus Premiership outfits.
After hosting St Johnstone midweek, KDM Group East End Park is now being prepared for the visit of Hearts on Sunday.
🎥The goals from last night's 1-1 draw with St Johnstone. pic.twitter.com/rKLKFsGsvY
— Dunfermline Athletic (@officialdafc) July 5, 2023
The Pars have also taken on Cove Rangers this pre-season and will finish with a trip to Alloa Athletic on Tuesday.
Tougher tests for the Pars
The step up in quality from last year’s warm-up fixtures reflects the rise in quality they will face after being promoted to the Championship.
“Last year we were on the back of a bad season and the manager [James McPake] wanted to build confidence and winning mentality,” said Pars striker Craig Wighton.
“We have that within the group so he wants to test us with these games.
“We have shown that we can compete at that level and Sunday will be the exact same – another good test and a game that you want to be playing in.
Visible improvement from Dunfermline Athletic
“I think you can see that from the St Pauli game – we had only been back a few days so the boys were a bit leggy.
“From then to now you can see that we have worked hard in training. It has been tough but it is paying off.
“In a lot of games last year we scored late on or we were going right to the end and I think that played a big part in a few games last year so it is something that the manager and Dave are big on.
“It was up to us to go away, work hard, we have done that and we are starting to get a bit sharper as well. The quality will come the sharper we get.”
Hard work doesn’t stop for Craig Wighton and Dunfermline Athletic F.C.
After netting his first goal of pre-season in the midweek draw with St Johnstone, Wighton now is looking forward to Dunfermline hosting his former side Hearts on Sunday.
“It will be good, I’m sure they will bring a big crowd so it will be another good test for us,” said last season’s 20-goal hero.
“They are a good side and that’s who we want to be playing against – week in, week out – sides like St Johnstone and Hearts.
“It is good to get that insight into where we want to be. It is going to be a hard season and we will need to keep working hard.”
