Rhys Breen is adamant Dunfermline will ‘hit the ground running’ in next weekend’s Championship kick-off.
The Pars conclude a disappointing Premier Sports Cup campaign by hosting Cove Rangers this afternoon knowing they are already out of the competition.
Last weekend’s narrow 1-0 defeat to Livingston was exacerbated by the preceding shock 2-0 loss to Forfar Athletic and ensures the final tie of the group is a dead rubber.
But Breen is convinced the Fifers have learned their lessons from those consecutive setbacks. And he is determined to prove they can look forward to the league with optimism.
“The results haven’t played our way. We know that and obviously we are not happy about that,” said the former Rangers defender.
“But we will probably learn a lot more from that going into the season than beating teams four or five-nil.
“The boys have not taken it to heart that we have been beaten in these games. It hurts a wee bit but we need to make sure the positivity is there.
“No doubt when we come to play Livingston [in the opening league game], the spirits and tempos will be at max.
‘A right good season’
“We know how hard a league it is, we were in it last season. With injuries, it didn’t work out our way.
“But, this season, there is no doubt that we are going to be hitting the ground running.
“The way the boys have come back fit for pre-season, everybody has come back with a good head on their shoulders. And the boys will be ready for the game against Livingston.
“Hopefully we will have a right good season ahead of us.”
The Pars have not seen the kind of extensive overhaul that some Championship competitors have experienced this summer.
Only Chris Kane, who saw out last term on loan at East End Park, Kieran Ngwenya and David Wotherspoon have been added to last season’s squad.
However, there have been changes in the way manager James McPake wants his side to approach aspects of matches.
And Breen has confessed the cup games have shown Dunfermline still have work to do to come to terms with the tweaks.
“We will just work on a few things and tidy up on a lot of things,” added the 24-year-old.
Breen: ‘Different roles’
“We looked at the game against Livingston. There are a lot of positive things to take out of it, but just wee simple things [went wrong] within the game – in defence, midfield, the attackers.
“We have new players in and some of the things we want to do this season are a bit different from last season. When we are in training we are working on things.
“Myself, I have been told to do different things within the team. I have different roles within the team – and still with the same roles as last season.
“We want to be different all over the pitch. And we want to play out from the back, to do different things within the pitch, and the biggest one is just to win the ball back.
“We want to make sure that we have that energy within the team and make sure that, if we do make the mistake, we are getting the ball back after a couple of seconds.”
