ATHLETIC manager James McPake has said the club are “working away” on potential deals to strengthen their squad.

However, while the possibility of a return to KDM Group East End Park for Sam Fisher isn’t something he is sure of, Press Sport understands that the club are optimistic that on-loan Robbie Mahon will remain with the club.

Following the Scottish Cup exit to Partick Thistle on Saturday, McPake’s assistant boss, Dave Mackay, said that centre back Fisher’s recall by parent club Dundee – who knocked the Pars out of the SPFL Trust Trophy on Tuesday night – from his loan was “really disappointing”.

The 21-year-old made 17 appearances before the Dark Blues took him back last Friday, ahead of the game at Firhill.

When asked about Fisher after that game, Mackay said: “Sam’s been outstanding for us. He’s a great boy as well and the players are disappointed to lose him but these things happen, and sometimes when you take loan players in, and they do so well for you, there’s always the danger that they’re going to get recalled by their parent club. But, who knows. We might get him back at some point. It’s not dead in the water.

“We’d love to get him back but, if not, we just have to get on without him, whether we replace him, or go with what we’ve got.

“If we bring somebody in, they have to be better than what we’ve already got at the minute, so we’ll see what’s available.”

Speaking to Press Sport following the SPFL Trust Trophy tie at Dens Park, however, McPake said: “I don’t know about that (Fisher potentially returning).

“He’s a Dundee player so that’ll be up to them. We were aware that could’ve happened so we have been working in the background at what we can do.

“We’ll assess it and see what happens over the coming eight days or so, and look into February as well.

“We’re working away. It’ll all get a bit frantic I’m sure with every club so we’ll just wait and see what happens.”

Although the transfer deadline closes at midnight on Tuesday, clubs outwith the Scottish Premiership can still sign players on loan in February.

McPake, however, was full of praise for a young centre back already at his disposal in the shape of Sam Young, who made his second first-team start on Tuesday evening (see page 55).

The 17-year-old, who played against Celtic B earlier in the SPFL Trust Trophy, played for 55 minutes at Dens Park, and the Dunfermline manager continued: “Sam Young, I know he played against Celtic B but, making his first competitive start against a first team, so-to-speak, he was excellent in it.

“I’m delighted for him and, obviously, Miller Fenton getting back on the pitch. It’s been a while since he’s been on the pitch for Dunfermline Athletic, so that was good to see.”

Captain Kyle Benedictus also had words of praise for Young, commenting: “He was brilliant.

“He was having that good a game that I thought, when I saw Aaron (Comrie) coming on, I was coming off!

“Credit to him. He was very composed out there. I see it every day in training; he’s very composed on the ball and I think he’s got a very bright future in the game.

“You never know how many games he’ll play for this club. If he keeps going the way he’s going, he’s going to have a bright future in the game. At 17, I was a nervous wreck out there!

“I can see how composed he is, and I’ll help as much as I can.”

After exits in two cup competitions, Dunfermline’s full focus now lies in League One, where they have a seven-point lead at the top going into this Saturday’s match at basement side Clyde.

“We’ve shown in two performances against two Championship teams that we can more than match them,” McPake added.

“I’m delighted with the way the players handled it, both games. We’re disappointed to lose both, of course we are, because we want to win games. We want to develop a winning culture at the club, but the players gave us everything again.

“Yeah, we can do better with a couple of the goals at least, but we can’t ask more of the players in terms of work-rate, attitude, desire. We just need to sharpen up a little bit at other things, and that’s a work in progress. We’ll dust ourselves down and we’ll go again on Saturday.”