Brett Long and Jordan Hart will fight it out to be East Fife No 1

The East Fife goalkeeper will battle it out with Jordan Hart, a 23-year-old goalie who played with Queen’s Park last season.

Before joining the Spiders, Hart started his career at Celtic before enjoying successful spells with Ayr United, where he helped the club get promoted to the Championship, and Annan Athletic.

Hart will arrive at Bayview to be no understudy to Long, himself considered one of the best ‘keepers in League One last season.

Long joined East Fife during the previous close season and was expected to battle it out with Craig McDowall for the starting slot.

But he soon made it his own, apart from a brief spell during the middle of the season when McDowall was handed the gloves.

Boss Darren Young is excited about the prospect of the two young goalies battling it out to win the keeper’s shirt.

“Jordan did very well at Queen’s Park last season,” said the Fife boss.

“He has won a title and had a really good pedigree at Celtic.

“He’ll come in and compete with Brett Long and is a great addition to the squad.

“It’s good for us to have that competition.”

Long and Hart will be given a fair crack of the whip to win the starting jersey, with Young saying he’ll play both during the early season fixtures.

Young added: “ Both ‘keepers will be playing in our pre-season and league cup games and then we’ll see what the situation is after that.

“It’s 50/50.”