A trip to Dens Park was one of the trickiest ties available to Dunfermline when they went into the hat for the SPFL Trust Trophy draw.
Dundee sit second in the Scottish Championship, the highest placed side left in the tournament.
Win that and the Pars face an equally as difficult test versus Queen’s Park – currently third in the Championship – or a Fife derby versus Raith Rovers.
Assistant manager Dave Mackay, who spent time at Dens as a player and as a coach, including an initial five-year spell, is pleased to get the chance to see some familiar faces.
But he is under no illusions about the size of the task facing Dunfermline when the sides meet next month.
A barometer
“It’s probably as tough as you can get – especially away from home as well,” said Mackay.
“But it’s one we look forward to and it’s a good to test ourselves in, see where we really are.
“It was a great performance and result against Arbroath. If that’s anything to go by then it should be a close encounter.
“There are still loads of people there from my time – it wasn’t that long ago that we did leave!
“I’m looking forward to going back and seeing a lot of faces that became real friends up there.”
McPake return
James McPake was the manager at Dens while Mackay was there and the two also coached Dundee’s youth players.
The Pars boss was on the books as a player before working his way up through the coaching structure.
McPake was let go last season, with the club going on to suffer relegation from the Premiership, before he eventually took over at KDM Group East End Park in the summer.
Now he will be aiming to knock his old side out of the SPFL Trust Torphy.
His Pars line-up, and performance, in Friday’s win in the previous round, shows they are in this competition to win it.
“I think James will be looking forward to going back as well,” added Mackay.
“It obviously didn’t end too well but we had some great times there, both of us as players, and then as part of the coaching staff.
“Promotion to the Premiership was the highlight – but we enjoyed really good times there and there’s a lot of good people at the club.”
