Preview of Aberdeen game

A look ahead to the weekend visit of Aberdeen, who are providing the opposition in yet another Pars game live on the box.

The least said about last weeks result, and perhaps more alarmingly the performance, Dunfermline have the opportunity to maintain their points advantage in third place.

Aberdeen, with the new management team now confirmed in place, will be no pushovers and will be out to persuade their new gaffer of their worth in the team.

A similar situation occured last season, when Hibs hero Frank Sauzee had his first managerial game in charge at East End Park. Hopefully the same result will pan out again this time around.

Aberdeen are, by their own standards, at the wrong end of the table. They will be looking to test themselves at fortress East End Park as they look to climbing back up the SPL into the hunt for a UEFA cup place.

Dunfermline meanwhile, will have a similar squad to choose from as in recent weeks. Scott Wilson will return from suspension, presumably walking back into a defence that conceded four against Partick! Scott Thompson is liable to move back into midfield to make way for the big centre half.

No one can claim they played particularly well last week, so Jimmy Calderwood is unlikely to make too many wholesale changes, hoping that it was simply a one off.

Looking in the history books, there have been quite a few decent tussles with the Dons in recent years.

Back on the 28th January 1989, Dunfermline were looking to bounce back quickly to the Premier division after being relegated.

They were given an ideal opportunity to test themselves against the "big boys" when they were drawn against Aberdeen in the third round of the Scottish Cup.

Aberdeen, of course, were rightly regarded a much stronger opponent then than they are now. With numerous seasoned internationals in their squad (such as Nicholas, McKimmie, Bett, Connor and Dodds), they would be looking to dispatch Dunfermline without too much difficulty.

In front of a superb crowd of 16,656 Dunfermline lined up with the following side:

Ian Westwater, Graeme Robertson, Bobby Smith, Gary Riddell, Grant Tierney, Stuart Beedie, Hugh Burns, Paul Smith, Ross Jack, John Watson, Davie Irons. Unused subs were Mark Smith and Trevor Smith.

The game will be best remembered as a titanic struggle between Pars` Ross Jack and the Dons keeper Theo Snelders. It was simply one of those days for Jack as chance after chance slipped by. Some of Snelders` saves were of the highest possible quality as he continued to foil Dunfermline with some amazing stops.

Newpapers after the game said:

"After only 15 minutes, Dunfermline began to string passes together and they forced Aberdeen back into a rather nervous eight man defence"

Chick Young said in the Scotland on Sunday "Neither did I rate possible the save Snelders produced with 26 minutes gone. It was roughly the equivalent of catching a bullet from a gun!"

Graeme Robertson won the Scottish Cup man of the match award, with Gary Riddell getting a special mention for his superb marking job on Charlie Nicholas.

Times have changed and Dunfermline now go into this match as bookies favourites. Let`s not prove them wrong!

COME ON YE PARS!