Pat Slattery on East Fife's 'good' title chances and fitting testimonial against Raith Rovers

Midfielder Slattery, 31, is the Fifers current longest-serving player, having made 256 appearances for the club, and that puts him in the top 15 list of all time for East Fife players past and present.

And as part of a year-long series of events to mark Slattery’s service, the Methil men hosted Fife rivals Raith Rovers last Saturday in a pre-season friendly that also acted as a testimonial for the club icon.

The match itself finished 0-0 at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium, with Slattery playing starting the match as the Fifers put a strong showing less than 24 hours after defeating Dunfermline Athletic 2-0, going toe to toe with Ian Murray side – seeing two goals chopped off.

Speaking to East Fife TV after an emotional day, Slattery said: “It has been brilliant. I can’t really believe it.

"This is my tenth season now and I have never really thought about leaving. I’ve always been relentless about playing my football here – it is a brilliant place.

“I can only thank the fans so much for their support over the ten years. We’ve won. lost and drawn together.

“People play football to win things and in my first season I managed to win a title with the club which makes it sweeter.

"That is what we want to do this season too, we have a right good chance if we apply ourselves properly.

“But I am not getting too pumped up as my time here isn't over yet by a longshot.

“The group we have got this year, the attitude and quality, I know this league and I know what it takes for a team to win the title.

"And I think that we have a good squad with good ability.

"We are a couple of pre-season friendlies in but we have shown that we have the right mentality and ability."

“We have backing from the coaching staff too and we need to keep applying ourselves in order to do what we want to do.”

​Slattery also admitted that he was honoured to have been handed a testimonial match, with all of his family present in front of a bumper Bayview crowd.

He added: “It is a nice day for me and my family. I had all my nieces, nephews and cousins here and it was special to spend the day with them here.

“The performance wasn’t bad either. This one finished 0-0 but even for a testimonial the intensity was there from both teams.”

​The midfielder, who has scored four times for East Fife and previously played for Queen’s Park and Queen of the South, also enjoyed playing against local Kirkcaldy rivals Raith Rovers – who he rates as his favourite opponent.

“Raith are right up there,” he added. “The ferocity was always there and it was an intense fixture whenever we played each other.

"The fans loved those matches too and they had edge to them. I’ve played in some big games with the club.

"I can remember playing Rangers here, I think in my first season we played Motherwell here too.”

East Fife begin group F with a home fixture against Championship side Greenock Morton on Saturday, July 13.