JAMES CRAIGEN says his Pars pals are ready “to get stuck in” and silence the Bairns boo-boys when they take on Falkirk this weekend.

The 27-year-old, who crossed the Kincardine Bridge divide in January, admits they’re desperate to earn bragging rights for their supporters when the clubs meet for the first time this season.

Dunfermline go into the clash on the back of a crucial win over Partick Thistle on Friday night and, in addition to protecting a record of four league games without defeat against their bitter rivals, visit a side yet to win at home in the Championship.

Although his former club prop up the table, Craigen – who is one of three ex-Bairns, alongside Louis Longridge and Myles Hippolyte, who could feature on Saturday – is expecting a tough afternoon but hopes to have the last laugh over the home fans.

“It’s a big one on Saturday and all the lads, after Friday night, are buzzing for the weekend and can’t wait to get stuck in at the derby,” he told Press Sport.

“It’s a massive game. They picked up a win at the weekend as well but we’ll be 100 per cent up for it on Saturday.

“You want to give the fans something to shout about and the bragging rights. You know how much it means to them, that game, but once you’re on the pitch you have to have an element of control as well.

“You need to concentrate on your own performance and you can’t get embroiled with what’s going on in the stands but there’s definitely an extra edge leading up to it.”

When asked whether receiving stick from the punters that used to cheer him could provide extra motivation, Craigen continued: “Once you’re in the game, you’re fully focused and not taking much notice of it but in a different kind of way, it spurs you on that extra five or 10 per cent. It’s one of those things that happens in most football grounds these days, where ex-players go back and everyone seems to get booed.

“I think I got booed most touches I had (in April, when Dunfermline won 2-1 at the Falkirk Stadium), but it’s part and parcel of football. They can boo all they want as long as we win the game.

“That was my first game back so the heat might be on someone else! But, seriously, everyone’s staying professional about it and concentrating on what we’re going to do.”

The victory over another of Craigen’s former employers, Thistle, ended a run of five league games without one and, while he believes that could prove to be the change in fortune they need, he knows they won’t get things easy against Ray McKinnon’s side.

“I worked with Ray at Raith and had a good relationship with him,” he continued.

“He’s a good manager and they’ll be a lot harder to beat. He got his first win on Saturday so they’ll be thinking that it’s an upturn in fortunes for them and can they kick on from here as well, so we’re under no illusions. We know it’s going to be a tough game.

“We’ll aim to start the game well and keep building on what we’ve been doing in the last couple of weeks. I think the performance against Morton the week before was good, but things were just not falling for us, so we got a bit of luck on Friday and it was a massive three points.

“It’s probably the first thing that’s really fell for us this season and sometimes you just need that to kick-start things. I think you can see that, from when we scored the goal, the last 20 minutes was all Dunfermline; that goal gave us a bit of confidence to everyone and I thought we kicked on from there.

“We know we need to stand up and bring our top performances and we’ll be doing everything we can to come away from the Falkirk Stadium with three points.”