Today’s Fife derby will set pal against pal in the dugout as former teammates Gary Locke and Allan Johnston square up.
Raith Rovers skipper Jason Thomson is desperate to ensure he gets the best of his own friendly rivalry on the pitch.
Full-back Thomson is likely to be playing directly against Dunfermline winger Joe Cardle, someone he became mates with during his own spell on loan at East End Park five years ago.
When Cardle was sacked and seeking a new club after the Pars went into administration in 2013, the two were reunited briefly as teammates at Raith.
But, with the winger having returned to Dunfermline last season, the duo will this afternoon seek to get the better of each other as they bid to inspire their side to the delight of derby-day success at Stark’s Park.
Thomson said: “I’m friendly with Joe. It started when I was at Dunfermline and then we kept in touch.
“And then when Dunfermline were in trouble financially and Joe needed to find a new club, he stayed locally and ended up at Raith.
“So, I’ve always kept in touch and it’ll be good if we come up against each other.
“I’ve played against him a few times now and we’ve probably both got the better of each other on a few occasions – he’s got the better of me and I’ve got the better of him.
“But there’s not just Joe. Dunfermline have got a lot of good attacking options when you do look through their squad – guys like Kallum Higginbotham, Michael Paton, Nicky Clark, Farid El Alagui.
“They do have good options up there. It’s just about how we play and how we deal with that.
“If they’re on their game it’s hard to play against them. But we’ll have our game-plan which we’ll stick to and hopefully we’ll get the win, and then enjoy our New Year after that.”
Thomson returned after three months out with a knee injury in the Christmas Eve draw with Hibs and came within a whisker of marking his comeback with a rare goal when he hit the bar with a second-half shot.
In the end, Raith were content with a point against the league leaders, having also drawn the previous week with title challengers Dundee United.
But Thomson admits the victory is all that counts this afternoon.
The 29-year-old added: “We know it’s going to be a tough game, and that has been shown in the two games we’ve played them this season.
“But we would ideally like a repeat of the first one, the 2-0 victory.
“We’ll be going into the game fully confident but we have had five draws in the last six games, so we’ll just take a win no matter how it comes.
“We’ll play rubbish but we won’t really care, as long as we get those three points and get ourselves back up the table.”
Meanwhile, Rhys McCabe experienced the extreme highs and lows of derby football in his breakthrough season with Rangers – and hopes to savour that winning feeling for the first time in a Fife derby.
The Dunfermline midfielder made just nine appearances in his debut campaign at Ibrox but two of them came in Old Firm clashes with Celtic.
On the first occasion, in March 2012, the Light Blues prevented Celtic from winning the title in Govan and from beating the earliest date for clinching the championship when they managed a 3-2 victory on home soil.
But just four weeks later, Rangers succumbed to a 3-0 hammering from the champions.
It was an early lesson for McCabe in the changing emotions of derby matches and, after a defeat and a draw with Raith so far this season, the 24-year-old is targeting a victory at Stark’s Park today.
He said: “When we played at Ibrox, if Celtic had won they would have won the league. But we won 3-2.
“That was my Old Firm debut and it was a memorable moment for me. Having grown up a Rangers fan, I’ll never forget that.
“Then we went to Celtic Park a few weeks later and we got beat 3-0, and they gave us a real doing.
“But it’s those games, whether they’re good or bad, that you can learn from. You learn from mistakes and from your highs and lows in the game.
“The emotions were totally different. Playing at home gives you a real good buzz and then it’s almost the opposite at Celtic Park, where you really feel the underdog.
“I’ve learned from that now and it’s just about handling experiences like that. That’s how you learn, from going through the highs and lows.”
Dunfermline have the benefit of being on a six-match unbeaten run as they travel to Kirkcaldy and McCabe is confident they are heading in the right direction in their performances after a troubled start to the campaign.
He added: “The run of results we’re on has been long overdue. The performances have mostly been great, it’s not as if the lads are down and the performances have been bad.
“The performances have been good, although of course they could be better, but we’re all on our toes and we’ve got that fighting spirit you need.”
