James McPake says Dunfermline will ‘press the button’ on plans for next season now they have secured their Championship status.
The Pars hosted Inverness Caley Thistle at the weekend with the spectre of relegation still hanging over them.
Defeat would have taken the battle to avoid ninth place right down to the final round of fixtures.
However, with a first-half Kyle Benedictus header cancelled out by Aribim Pepple’s strike 15 minutes from time, the Fifers got the point they needed.
The 1-1 draw ensured they could not be caught by either Inverness or Queen’s Park.
The East End Park outfit can now move forward with the certainty of knowing they will be playing second-tier football next season.
Talks over the futures of out-of-contract quartet Paul Allan, Alex Jakubiak, Max Little and Miller Fenton are now expected to quicken.
And there will be questions over whether manager James McPake can – or wants to – keep any of his loan players of Malachi Fagan-Walcott, Miles Welch-Hayes, Xavier Benjamin, Owen Moffat, Chris Kane and Brad Holmes.
“It has already started,” said McPake of player discussions. “But, in terms of knowing exactly what league you are in, then you can start pressing the button on certain ones.
McPake: ‘Everything becomes clear’
“That naturally happens whenever everything becomes clear.
“We have been working away but we will start work on that. A lot of the prep has been done.”
Although staving off a possible relegation dogfight was the priority, Dunfermline remained sixth in the table on Saturday.
However, a victory on Friday over Ayr United – who also secured their Championship status at the weekend – would lift them back into fifth if Morton fail to beat Inverness.
Given the injury travails that have afflicted the Pars this season, and the fact they sat a worrying ninth just two months ago, a mid-table berth would be satisfactory – if not satisfying.
“I’m not quite sure what the differences are in this league, in terms of finishing positions,” added McPake when asked about prize money.
“But there is personal pride within us, within the players and within the football club. We want to finish as high as we can.
“We did have that really poor run, which coincided with the injuries. And, looking over the season, that was a damaging time for us.
“But to come out the other end of it and have a good end to the season, then that will help us going into next season – if we can do that.”
