EAST Fife midfielder Kevin Fotheringham may know by this weekend if he'll be forced to watch from the sidelines as his promoted team-mates begin a promising new campagin.

The player and the club are awaiting the outcome of an appeal to the Scottish Football Association against the eight-game ban slapped on Fotheringham, after he was found guilty by a disciplinary committee of racially abusing another player.

The Methil side is expecting a written judgement within seven to 10 days of the appeal hearing, which took place last Wednesday night at Hampden.

East Fife chief executive Sid Collumbine was hopeful of a "reasonable resolution" after being very impressed with the case put on the club's behalf and also the SFA's staging of the meeting.

But he also said the club wanted a new disciplinary hearing with a different set of SFA committee members – and reiterated East Fife would pursue legal action, possibly over defamation of character, if the appeal was thrown out.

So convincing was the case put by East Fife's QC, said Mr Collumbine, that the SFA decided it would need time to consider certain points and issue written findings, rather than conclude the matter on the night.

"I felt it was a very good, professional hearing and our QC did an excellent job in law," said the Bayview vice-chairman. "It has cost us a lot of money but I think we got the best."

Attempts by the SFA to `shift the goalposts' over the discussion were countered before talks began, he added.

"We had to change our approach a bit but we still got our points across very well. Our guy went so deeply into things that they said would need more time to look at it, but we had a very fair hearing – it was very well conducted and a strict, by-the-rulebook hearing. I have no complaints about it at all."

But Mr Collumbine stressed: "It should never have come to this in the first place. We felt very strongly that our player was being victimised and we felt we had to defend the man's reputation."

Fotheringham was found guilty of making a racially abusive remark towards Stranraer's Gregory Tade after the clubs met at Bayview in a January 2 league match.

His appeal against the accusation, which he strenuously denied, was postponed several times before finally going ahead last week.

East Fife chiefs also gave strong public support to 32-year-old Fotheringham, declaring they believed he was innocent.

They also had concerns over the handling of the original disciplinary hearing, saying they felt the player was "pre-judged".