Aaron Comrie has backed Dunfermline to ‘compete with anyone’ in the Championship in the coming season – with the help of Chris Kane’s goals.
Comrie was one of a glut of first-team players who missed great swathes of last term due to injury.
The likes of skipper Kyle Benedictus, Rhys Breen, Kane Ritchie-Hosler, Matty Todd and Craig Wighton all spent lengthy spells on the sidelines.
With Todd out of action again due to a broken collarbone, Comrie accepts the Pars will need to avoid a repeat of their injury misfortune if they are to keep pace with their rivals.
But he believes the permanent signing of Kane, who netted five times in ten appearances on loan from St Johnstone after joining in February, will be crucial to the Fifers’ hopes.
Kane has not featured in the two pre-season friendlies so far, but the expectation is he will feature against St Mirren on Saturday.
He said: “It is a good group and a talented group.
“For now, the squad is good enough and the manager has touched on it – when the squad is really fit we can compete with anyone.
Comrie: ‘He gets a bad reputation’
“All the players thoroughly believe that as well.
“I have known Chris [Kane] for about ten years now – he had a full head of hair back then!
“I am a couple of years younger and we played a few games together at St Johnstone.
“He is another good boy and a good addition to the team. You saw in those glimpses (last season) that he will offer a lot to Dunfermline as well.
“He gets a bad reputation for his numbers [of goals] but if he gets a good run at it he will definitely score plenty.
“He has got a lot of attributes and, if he doesn’t score, for example, he offers that much on and off the ball. “
Comrie was sidelined by a calf injury picked up against Queen’s Park on January 5 and then sustained a knee problem on his return.
It means the full-back has made just four appearances in 2024.
But, with Sam Fisher, he was one of only two players who featured for the full 90 minutes in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Cove Rangers.
Good luck
The 27-year-old is confident his injury troubles are in the past.
He added: “In terms of timing, the off-season helped with my recovery.
“It gave me a little bit longer [to recover]. I had that extra bit of time to come back feeling good.
“The end of the season came literally a couple of weeks too soon. In the last week of training I was starting to do bits and bobs.
“Fingers crossed, that’s me and I can have some good luck from now on.”
