East Fife will have a whole host of new faces on show as they finally try to get the better of Forfar at the fifth attempt this season.
The Loons can boast about having the Methil club’s number ahead of their trip to Bayview, having beaten the Fifers twice in the league and in both the Ramsdens Cup and Scottish Cup.
However, new boss Gary Naysmith has moved to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window and hopes the new faces will give his side a different dynamic.
Aberdeen midfielder Stephen O’Neill, 19, joined on Thursday on loan, adding to the signings of defender Kevin Rutkiewicz, Cowdenbeath midfielder Marc McKenzie and striker Kevin Smith all of whom could be in line for a debut.
“We’ve played them four times already this season and Forfar have won all four, so we’ll be looking to try and put that right,” Naysmith said.
“We’ll have a different team on the pitch this time around and we’re at home in front of our own fans, so hopefully it will be a different outcome.
“I’ve just been trying to bring people in who I think will give us something new and we think we’ve done that.
“I think Marc gives us something a bit different and something we’ve not got which is out-and-out pace in the team.
“He gets at full-backs and if he can get the goals we know he can then he’ll be a great asset for us.
“I think he got something like 21 goals when he was at Cowdenbeath when they won the league so it would be great if he could do something similar here.
“We’ve also brought in Kevin Rutkiewicz, who is a good leader on the pitch, a good talker and has good experience, and we brought in Kevin Smith, who gives us a bit of experience up front.
“With a few players out I felt we needed to get Liam (Buchanan) some help, so we’ve got that.”
The Fifers will be without the suspended Gary Thom and strikers Pat Clarke and Nathan Austin through injury, while Naysmith admits a few other players are carrying knocks and could be doubtful.
But he added: “That gives some of the younger lads a chance to prove what they can do.
“I watched the Forfar game on Monday and I thought they matched Rangers quite well, although I didn’t think they would have difficulty matching Rangers in strength or height.
“They are a hard-working team and it took Rangers more than three -quarters of the game to break them down.”