Saints task will be even harder thanks to the news that Stewart Kean will miss the game with an injury he has picked up over the past few days, probably against Celtic on Tuesday night. This could give former Dunfermline striker Billy Mehmet his first league start of the season, although Saints boss Gus MacPherson may prefer to go with the nippier and quicker Mark Corcoran instead. Kean joins John Potter and Brian McGinty on the sidelines, whilst Garry Brady is once again doubtful. John Sutton, Kevin McGowne and Craig Molloy were all rested for Tuesday's game at Parkhead and should all return to the starting lineup tomorrow.
There's a bit of history between the two clubs after the exciting battle between Tom Hendrie's Saints side and Jimmy Calderwood's Pars side in the first division in 1999/2000. Saints eventually triumphed, but it seems some Dunfermline fans are still sore about the final outcome. Of course, the fact lee Bullen came out after we'd won the league and said we stole their trophy didn't help either!
Of course, there have been major changes at both clubs since then and hardly any players remain at either side since those days. The only Dunfermline player I can think of still at East End Park from that season (though I'm probably wrong) is Stevie Crawford, although he has only just returned to Dunfermline from Aberdeen. He's already scored once against Saints this season and scored a fine goal against Kilmarnock a fortnight ago. He seems to have recaptured his old form now that he has returned to Fife, although a return to the Scotland squad is extremely unlikely.