James McPake believes new Dunfermline signing Malachi Fagan-Walcott has learned from the frustrations of his last spell in Scottish football with Dundee.
The former Spurs defender joined the Pars earlier this month on loan from Cardiff City.
He has been made to wait for his debut after the Fifers’ last two games have been postponed following failed pitch inspections.
But McPake is delighted to have been reunited with the youngster after first working with him during his time in charge at Dundee.
Unfortunately, Fagan-Walcott only managed two games on loan at Dens Park before he had to return to Tottenham Hotspur for treatment on a season-ending hamstring issue.
However, McPake reckons the tall centre-half has matured physically since that curtailed move north in 2021.
And he has seen lasting evidence of the former England youth cap’s wealth of footballing education coming through the ranks at Spurs.
He said: “In terms of his professionalism, he was still a young player when he was at Dundee, he was only 18.
“He’s since had that serious injury and I’ve noticed that, coming from Spurs and having moved onto Cardiff, he has that mentality just to be in the gym and looking after his body.
“I’ve enjoyed having him back up here.
“Just naturally, he’s better than he was when he was a younger kid.
“He’s developed even more, he’s grown into himself a bit.
“He’s one I’m looking forward to working with.”
As well as McPake and assistant-manager Dave Mackay, Fagan-Walcott had friendly faces in former Dundee team-mates Sam Fisher and Alex Jakubiak to help him on his arrival at East End Park.
However, McPake is convinced there would have been no problems for the Londoner settling in anyway.
He added: “Malachi has been really good.
“I think it helped, the fact he knew Sam and he knew Alex.
“But, coming into this group, it is a welcoming group; it’s just a good group to come into, I would imagine.”
New dates awaited for postponed games
Meanwhile, Dunfermline are awaiting confirmation from the SPFL on new dates for their two postponed matches.
The Pars’ home meeting with Airdrie on January 13 was called off after a burst pipe in the East End Park undersoil heating left the pitch waterlogged.
Then, on Saturday, their clash with Queen’s Park failed to go ahead because of a frozen pitch.
It leaves the Fifers having played the fewest games in the Championship – just 19 – as they prepare to travel to face league leaders Dundee United this weekend.
With both Dunfermline and Queen’s Park having exited the Scottish Cup, it is anticipated the teams could try again on their free weekend of Saturday, February 10.
Another midweek date for the Airdrie encounter is also being discussed.
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