Ross County manager Jim McIntyre wants former club Dunfermline to succeed in their push for the League 1 title this season but is determined to send the Pars crashing out of Scottish Cup at East End Park today.
McIntyre was handed his first management job by the Fifers in 2007, helping them reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup two years later before guiding them to the Division 1 title in 2011.
After a poor start to the subsequent top-flight campaign, McIntyre was sacked the following year. However, he bears no ill feelings and said: “I would love to see them get promoted this season.
“I know the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to keep them full time, which isn’t easy in League 1. It costs a lot of money and they deserve great credit.
“Hopefully, they’ll be rewarded this season with promotion. I’m quite confident they’ll go on and do it. They are on a great run, 14 league games unbeaten now.
“There’s been many a shock there when they’ve been out of the top league. You just need to look to this season when they’ve beaten Dundee in the League Cup. That’s all the warning we need.
“They’ve got players who have played at a higher level and are capable of a higher-level performance. There are a few there who I’ve worked with that have quality, so we’ve got to defend well and not gift goals like we have been doing recently.
“If we bring that concentration level and our level of performance, we should be able to get the result.”
Attackers Liam Boyce and Craig Curran are out of today’s trip, with respective hand and head injuries, while midfielder Tony Dingwall is also sidelined with an ankle injury.
McIntyre has challenged attackers Brian Graham and Alex Schalk to fill the void left by the 24-goal partnership, adding: “Craig and Liam will be a miss but that’s why we have a squad.
“Alex and Brian have got an opportunity to put a couple of games together to show their qualities.”