STEVIE CRAWFORD insists that his Athletic side won't take derby rivals Raith Rovers lightly when they meet in the Scottish Cup tomorrow.

The new Pars head coach will lead his team for a second time following his appointment last Thursday at Stark's Park, the ground where he began his playing career.

Crawford spent four years in Kirkcaldy, which included winning the League Cup in 1994 and facing Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup, but is determined to send them spinning out of the cup and grab his first victory in charge of Dunfermline.

It's the first meeting of the clubs since a 1-0 win for the Pars at East End in April 2017 - a season that ended with Rovers being relegated to League One in the play-offs - but, now under the management of John McGlynn, they are second in the table, 13 points behind Arbroath.

Crawford, however, told Press Sport: "We want to go to Stark's Park to progress in the Scottish Cup.

"Is it going to be an easy game? Far from it. If it was us and they were coming to East End, and Raith Rovers were in the Championship and we were League One, our supporters would still fancy our chances to win the game wouldn't we?

"It's naïve if we go along there thinking it's just a matter of turning up. It's a big game, we want to progress in the competition, and it'll be a good, intense game.

"We'll get our working week that everything will be aimed towards Saturday and make sure we go through there as prepared as possible."

The 45-year-old, and assistant Greg Shields, had just two days to work with the Pars players before last Saturday's game at Dundee United, which ended with a late, one-goal defeat.

Despite that, he praised the "magnificent" support that backed his team and more than 2,000 have bought tickets for tomorrow's cup tie.

Crawford is determined to send them home happy, and continued: "We never managed to do much last week other than small-sided games and possession to get the legs going.

"We obviously relayed information back about the way we tried to go about our business at Tannadice, and for the main it was working.

"There's more structure to our working week this week. The boys were disappointed when I spoke to them on Monday morning that we never took something away, and it's that wee bit that we've got to rectify that allows confidence.

"When players start playing with confidence and belief, supporters get a feel-good factor. They were magnificent on Saturday and they're going to be through in numbers again, so we've got to make sure we go there and beat Raith Rovers to progress to the next stage of the Scottish Cup."

On his return to Kirkcaldy, Crawford added: "Getting my senior debut there was a special feeling, so the regard I have for that club will never leave me. Now, I’m sitting here as manager of my hometown club, where I’ve had a lot of decent memories playing.

"It’s up to us to go through there, and first of all compete in the cup tie, and hopefully it will be a good advert for Fife football - with us sneaking it in the end."

From an allocation of 2,700 tickets, less than 400 remain for the Pars end and the club have said that a "decision on matchday sales has been delayed" due to the levels of demand.

The ticket office within the club shop at East End Park is open until 4pm today, and from 10am-12 noon tomorrow.