Macca Returns to Killie

09/09/11: JM:- "I am looking forward to it. I had a great spell there and anytime I go back I am always warmly received.

Jim McIntyre returns to Kilmarnock for the first time as a Manager. He has fond memories of the club where he played for two seasons and was a member of their 1997 Scottish Cup winning side. He talked through his admiration for the Ayrshire club:

"I am looking forward to it. I had a great spell there and anytime I go back I am always warmly received. Back then it was a great place to go, everybody got on well and the spirit was fantastic. That is a huge part of any football club that there are no huge personalities to dominate the dressing room."

Dunfermline have made a good start to the season albeit they have lost their last two fixtures, but the Manager warned that "it is important that we go there with the right attitude and make sure that we are fully focussed."

Macca has watched Kilmarnock twice, most recently against Hibs when he was match summariser for radio.

"They were excellent against Hibs, they passed the ball well and you have got to admire their bravery where they play. When you are brought up you are encouraged not to play in certain areas but football is changing and teams are starting to pass the ball a lot more out from the back; building from the goalkeeper and Kilmarnock have done that successfully. When I say bravery, eve when they have lost a goal through it, they continue to do it."

The Dunfermline boss described Killie's style as "exciting" and something for their fans to look forward to every week:-

"The management and their players deserve a lot of credit because it is nice to watch."

This week Jim McIntyre is compelling his side to start their match better:-

"A good start is vital and that is what we will be looking to do. When we lose the first goal in any league, it is hard to recover from that."

The injury situation at East End Park has grown. For the trip to Kilmarnock, Martin Hardie is a doubt, Kevin Rutkiewicz is out, Nick Phinn and Steven McDougall are out joining Steven Bell on the sidelines. The Manager was particularly vexed about Nick's recurrence of his injury in the Fife Cup Semi final against East Fife on 30th August:-

"His hamstring is settling down as it did the last time - it is like a grade one strain -but we have sent him away to a specialist because it is quite tricky how he keeps doing it. It is not a full stretched hamstring it was just a side volley he tried in the game, He had been back training; he had rehabbed for three weeks, been in training for a week then going at full pelt with no reaction but 20 minutes into a game in which he was cruising and looked really fit, one ball comes out the sky, he tries to play it and the exact same thing happened to his hamstring at the exact same point. Then you are back to square one again. It is a scratch the head one to be honest. We will have to wait and see what comes from the visit to the specialist.

"Steven McDougall will be out for a couple of weeks with an abductor strain. Hardie has an ankle injury; he took a bang on his toe in the first game of the season and he continued on with it. I think it is just the way that he has been trying to protect it with the way he has been running, the ankle injury he got in the third last game of last season against Raith has flared up. He is making progress but is not ready for the weekend."

On a positive note new signing Craig Easton is fit and in the squad for Kilmarnock.