John McGlynn braced for stern test at JJ’s Pars

JOHN McGLYNN today warned his Hearts players that their old boss will have Dunfermline fired up for today’s meeting between the sides at East End Park.

The Tynecastle team travel to Fife for their third friendly match in the build-up to the 2012/13 SPL season and Hearts manager McGlynn knows that his players will have to give 100 per cent if they are to head back to Edinburgh with a favourable result.

Jim Jefferies, now in charge of the Pars, managed Hearts twice, his most recent spell coming to an end last August, and McGlynn reckons that he will be determined to put one over on his old club.

McGlynn, who replaced Paulo Sergio in the Hearts hotseat last month, said: “It will be a tricky game, going away from home and against a former manager who wil obviously want to put one over on his old club, Hearts.

“That is understandable and we will certainly need to be up for it because Jim will have his guys fired up.

“Jim and Billy Brown gave me my chance to get involved in the youth set-up here back in 1995 with the Under-16s and if it wasn’t for them I probably wouldn’t be here today so I have got a lot to thank them for.

“Jim has been a great manager over his two spells at Hearts. He’s been at Berwick Rangers, Falkirk, Bradford, Kilmarnock and now he is at Dunfermline so he has got vast experience and an eye for a good player.

“He has done exceptionally well and I learnt a lot from him.

“In the past he has brought his Kilmarnock team to Raith Rovers and we have had some good games over the years so it should be interesting.”

With some of their more experienced players ruled out by injury and illness, McGlynn hinted that Hearts supporters can again expect to see some of their younger players given a run-out. He continued: “The nucleus of this squad is young. Probably 14 out of the 18 players have come through the youth academy and we will again be going with a similar squad this weekend.

“Guys like Darren Barr and Gordon Smith are out with illness and Danny Grainger and Jamie Hamill are also out, so the younger boys will play their part both in the friendlies and over the course of the season.”