JAMES McPAKE acknowledges that he has a point to prove after making his managerial return with Athletic.

But he insists that making it to everybody connected with his new club, and showing that he is the man to lead them to better times, are the only ones that he needs to prove it to.

The 37-year-old has been unveiled as the successor to John Hughes, who stepped away from his position following Dunfermline’s relegation to League One in the Championship play-offs.

McPake, whose playing career included spells with Livingston, Coventry City and Dundee, is back in the game after leaving the latter in February.

Having stepped up from coaching in the club’s academy to become first-team manager in 2019, he led the Dark Blues to top-flight promotion last year, when they defeated Kilmarnock in the Premiership play-off final.

Despite back-to-back victories, he was dismissed with the club 11th in the table – they would go on to finish bottom and return immediately to the second tier – but was identified by Dunfermline’s board as the man to lead them next season.

McPake, who was named Championship Manager of the Year for season 2020/21, sat down exclusively with Press Sport after arriving on Tuesday, and insists he is raring to go after his spell out of the game – despite having had surgery on his knee recently.

“The work’s started,” he explained.

“The summer holiday that I had from February to now is over, happily, because as much as I love my daughters to bits, I was getting a wee bit fed-up of doing the school run!

“I’m a football man, I love being on the grass, coaching, and I’ve missed that.

“I’ve enjoyed the time away and the reflection, speaking to people like Derek McInnes that have been sacked, speaking to people like that, Jack Ross, Chris Coleman, people like that who have all lost jobs or had knock-backs, failures, whatever you want to call it, whatever people say or brand that as.

“But, when you’ve been on your knees and you get back up, there’s no better feeling. That’s what I feel just now.

“I’ve been on my knees. Have I got a point to prove? Everybody’s got a point to prove. My point is to prove to everyone involved with this football club that I can help it progress, take it forward in the right direction, not the direction that it was going in, hence why we’re in this league.

“We need to progress as a football club over the next one, two, three, four, five, how many years it is, and I want to be a massive part of that.”

Following Hughes’ departure, talks between both parties began and continued over the weekend, with the deal being concluded late on Monday evening.

“I’m excited,” McPake continued.

“First and foremost, I’m delighted to be joining this club. It’s an historical club in Scottish football but we are where we are for a reason. We’ve not been good enough recently and we need to get back to winning games of football.

“That’s my initial reaction; how do I build a team, a squad, and get a feel-good factor around this football club, with players, staff, whether that’s the footballing staff, the catering staff, whoever it is, the press. We want everything to be positive around this football club because it’s a football club, at the minute, that’s used to losing games of football.”