East Fife start to prepare for tough cup schedule

The campaign will begin with the now traditional early season curtain raiser, the league cup.

The competition, sponsored by Premier Sports, has grouped East Fife with Kelty Hearts, Dundee United, Elgin City and Arbroath.

Bayview boss Young will welcome his squad back for pre-season training on Thursday ahead of the cup campaign kicking off on July 10.

East Fife will sit out the first round of fixtures and play their first game away from home to Championship side Arbroath on Wednesday, July 14 before then making the journey to Kelty a few days later.

“They’ll be hard games all round,” said the East Fife boss.

"Kelty have just come up and have made some right good signings and we’ll play Dundee United with their new manager.

"Elgin are in there and Arbroath too, so they’ll be hard games, they always are.

"For us we’ll be working towards our fitness but, at the same time, we want to make a good impression and get off to a good start.”

Fellow Fifers Kelty continue to turn heads, making a series of eye catching summer signings and attracting former Rangers and Hibs midfielder Kevin Thomson to replace Barry Ferguson as manager.

The Central Park club recently relegated Brechin City and will kick off next season as a League Two side.

Young says he’s impressed by the club’s progress.

"It doesn’t surprise me, it’s very similar to other teams like Cove Rangers, Darvel, teams like that who are making a go of it and putting the right things in place,” he said.

"Kevin Thomson is a highly respected coach and has a good name.

"I expect him to go in there and do things right and pick up from how they ended under Barry Ferguson.

"That’s a good first game and hopefully we’ll have a few fans in there who will be looking forward to it.

"It's getting closer and closer and we’re only four weeks away now.

"We’ll be back in on Thursday and start to prepare.

"We won’t be looking to push the boys too hard, they’re a good bunch so I’m sure they’ll be ready to go."

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/sport/football/international/east-fife-the-best-option-for-aaron-steele-following-st-johnstone-departure-3264729