EAST FIFE manager Stevie Crawford has insisted he is not looking to the past as he prepares his side for tomorrow’s Co-operative Insurance Cup first-round match against Raith Rovers.

The former Rovers star was a member of the Coca-Cola Cup-winning squad in 1994, scoring a memorable goal against Celtic in a final that has become part of Fife football folklore.

But whilst the extent of that achievement still stands out as a highlight in the playing career of the Fifers’ boss, Crawford is insisting that in the lead-up to this weekend’s match it is a memory that has been left firmly in the past.

Crawford told Courier Sport, “Obviously those times hold a lot of special memories for me but these days I’m all about East Fife.

“They were good times but I’ve drawn a line under it all.

“This weekend’s match is not about me but about the players we have here now.”

The Fifers have endured mixed results in their pre-season build-up and lost their first competitive game last weekend, going down 2-0 to Forfar in the first round of the Challenge Cup.

Crawford has admitted that some of the matches have provided a steep learning curve for his squad—in particular a 7-1 drubbing by Dunfermline—but remains hopeful that experience taken from these games will help his young players in the long term.

He said, “We’ve had some tough games in pre-season against some full-time opposition.

“Dunfermline gave us a tough lesson and maybe dented our confidence a bit, but we played Hibs the other night and though there was a lot of under-19s playing, they have also been training full-time.

“There was a lot we could take from that game and I thought we knocked the ball about in a good manner,” he added.