James McPake admits the excitement has been ramped up a notch after Dunfermline were handed a mouthwatering double-header to kick off the new season.
The Pars will travel to face newly-relegated Livingston on the opening weekend of the Championship on August 3 – just a fortnight after facing the same team in the Premier Sports Cup.
They then follow that up with a first home game of the campaign against bitter rivals Falkirk.
With two high-profile games back to back, and a Fife derby against Raith Rovers five games in, McPake is looking forward to the competitive action getting started.
“It’s exciting, whoever you play,” he said. “It’s a tough (opening) game.
“Twice we’ll be at Livingston in the space of a few weeks. They’re the newly-relegated team, so they’re coming down with that tag.
“But Davie [Martindale, Livi manager] has been in the league before, he knows it, so they’ll be prepared and they’ll be ready.
“Then you look through all your usual dates – kids’ birthdays, wife’s birthday, Christmas, New Year. You put a wee asterisk next to the important dates!
‘It brings a buzz’
“Then you’ve got to remember Falkirk and Raith Rovers are there as well and you go and find them.
“It’s exciting and I heard the players talking about it. They were saying maybe that one will get moved to a Friday night [for TV}. It brings a buzz.”
McPake has stressed the importance of the current pre-season preparations, including Friday night’s opening friendly away to East Fife.
And then there is the League Cup group stage before the Championship gets up and running.
However, the addition of a meeting with old foes Falkirk for just the second season in the last six, is helping to whet the appetite for the league campaign.
“We’re looking forward to the Falkirk games,” added McPake. “There’s an excitement that builds around them, which is natural in derbies, and it’ll be good to see them again.
“I said it in League One as well [two seasons ago], that it was a shame it’s not, for Scottish football, one of our big games. It took me coming to this club to understand that.
“Everyone that’s been involved in them, you quickly understand just how big those games are.”
