DUNFERMLINE assistant manager Dave Mackay believes that they can draw inspiration from one of their divisional rivals, and his former club, as they plot a Scottish Cup run.

The Pars entertain Fife neighbours Raith Rovers in an all-Championship third round tie this evening (Friday), which will be broadcast live by BBC Scotland, as both sides begin what they hope will be the road to Hampden.

Athletic go into the tie having lost both league meetings with their Kirkcaldy rivals this season so far by a single goal, and having drawn, and subsequently won a penalty shoot-out bonus point, in a Viaplay Cup group stage match in July.

Last term, James McPake's outfit reached the fourth round of the cup, losing on penalties to Partick Thistle, in a tournament that saw Inverness Caledonian Thistle reach the final against Celtic.

READ MORE: Mackay's 'positive' over Pars' chances ahead of 'tough' Raith tie

Mackay reckons they have shown that anything is possible in the competition - as does his own experience of winning the tournament, with St Johnstone, in 2014.

"We're looking forward to it. It's a little break from the league and, obviously, a local derby which makes it interesting, live on the TV," he told Press Sport.

"Any time the Scottish Cup comes around then I think every player looks forward to it. You do get a little bit of respite from the league for the weekend, but it's a competition that everybody wants to be part of, everybody wants to play in, and you just never know where it can take you.

"You saw last year Falkirk reaching a semi-final, Inverness, although they got a bit of fortune by being reinstated in the cup (they lost to Queen's Park but the Spiders fielded an ineligible player), and found themselves in the cup final.

"It just shows you that if the draw opens up then everybody can dream of getting to Hampden.

"Obviously you can't get too far ahead of yourself and you have to take care of Raith Rovers. If you don't do that, there's no point thinking too far ahead.

"This is the first round we enter, so we need to try and take care of business against a good side on Friday night, but once you start progressing in a cup competition, you're then looking at the draws, who's exited, and if you do get a couple of favourable draws, it can take you far."

When asked if he could pass on his own cup experience to the players - he also played for Dundee in the 2003 final, which they lost to Rangers - he added: "Nah, I wouldn't bother! It's so long ago now it's pretty irrelevant.

"I've had some success in cups, I've been unfortunate too. I've been beaten in a final, I've won one, and been in loads and loads of semi-finals.

"As much as I was successful in one of them, I've had many more failures than successes. They'll not want to listen to me talking about that!

"It just shows you that a club like St Johnstone, to go the full way in a cup, reach so many semi-finals, and getting to Hampden so often, that it's not beyond the realms of possibility.

"But, again, we can't look any further than Raith Rovers on Friday night."