Peterhead goalkeeper Brett Long is grateful for his time at East Fife – but hopes to put one over them this afternoon.
Long spent three seasons at New Bayview after leaving Dundee United and still keeps in contact with some of his old team-mates.
He has become a popular figure at Peterhead since joining the summer and has been one of their stand-out performers.
However, the 24-year-old remains grateful to the backing given to him by East Fife and their former manager Darren Young, who was sacked last month.
“Darren was good with me,” said Long. “I came from Dundee United, dropped down to part-time and I played most games under Darren.
“I enjoyed my time there. We had really good cup runs and good league runs, just missing out on the play-offs.
“I loved it there and there’s still a lot of boys there I keep in contact with. They were a bit gutted with how it ended with Darren but they’ve said since Stevie (Crawford) has come in, he’s knowledgeable and well-drilled.
“Players that are in the team will want to stay in the team and the players that haven’t been playing have got a fresh slate to impress. That’s good when people haven’t been playing, to be able to show a new manager what they’re all about.”
Peterhead come into the fixture with confidence building. The campaign so far has been challenging, with some indifferent results and performances, but there is belief they can start to pull clear of the bottom of the table.
“We’ve picked up a few good results now,” added Long. “It’s hard in this league and if you pick up a few wins, you’re not too far off the play-offs. If you lose a few games, you’re looking over your shoulder a bit.
“We’ve got East Fife this Saturday and Dumbarton next Saturday, which is two massive games for us. They’re two teams right next to us (in the table) and we’ll be looking to take full points.
The two sides met in the league in Methil back in August, with Peterhead on the receiving end of a 3-0 defeat in a game they controlled for large spells.
“It was a strange game. In the first half I don’t think I touched the ball. They couldn’t get out and had their backs against the wall.
“The second half, we had it in our mind that we had to score or they’d punish us. That’s what happened; we couldn’t put the ball in the net and they had three chances and scored three goals.
“We need to take the confidence from how we dominated that game and how we’ve done in recent weeks. Our home form has been good this season and teams don’t like travelling to Peterhead.”
