East Fife boss Gary Naysmith says he has been delighted with the way the new faces have settled into the team after the new-look side’s win over Forfar at the weekend.
It was a much changed line-up for the Fifers as they fielded no fewer than four new players, with defender Kevin Rutkiewicz, midfielders Marc McKenzie and Stephen O’Neill and striker Kevin Smith all making their debuts.
Player-manager Naysmith had himself not played in the first team since the end of October, but the Fifers battled back from a goal down to earn a deserved 2-1 victory.
“It shows the team have got character because there’s not many times this season that we’ve gone one down and came back to win the game, but I thought we thoroughly deserved to win it,” Naysmith said.
“I thought all the lads that started were different class you throw them all together, they’ve had a couple of training sessions and you are not sure how it’s going to go but they were really, really good.
“I was worried before the game. I wasn’t worried about the players’ ability because I knew they were good players and I wouldn’t have brought them to the club if they weren’t.”
Local rivals Dunfermline are next to visit Methil and Naysmith seemed loathe to tinker too much with his team after their impressive weekend performance.
“That’s two games now where they’ve set their standards,” he said. “We won’t get carried away with it because there’s a long way to go but that’s a very encouraging start with the new boys coming in.
“I’ve said to the lads that they are pole position now with the jerseys it’s up to them now to lose them with performances like that.
“You can’t be making changes if everybody’s fit and they deserve to keep the jerseys.”
Meanwhile, 18-year-old midfielder Kyle Wilson has left the club after two years coming through the youth system at Bayview.