Petrie’ s battle cry with Pars return on horizon

Montrose boss Stewart Petrie has declared “bring it on” after his side were handed three League One challengers as opponents in the opening weeks of the season.

The 2022-23 fixtures have given the Gable Endies an away trip to Falkirk on the opening day of the campaign, before hosting Queen of the South, then a trip to Dunfermline.

Petrie, though, is looking forward to the challenge and is not fazed by the tricky start to the campaign.

Nevertheless, his first thought is about securing their League One status, before dreaming of any promotion places.

It shows how good the league is going to be this year when you are away to Falkirk and then Dunfermline in the first weeks of the season, while playing Queen of the South at home,” he told Courier Sport.

“I’ve no doubt the three of them will be favourites, along with Airdrie.

“We’re not going to kid on there will be easy games but we need to play them at some point of the season so why not in the first games of the season?

“As I’ve said every year, our aim is eighth place and anything else is a bonus.”

Petrie is also relishing the opportunity to return to East End Park with his Montrose side.

The 52-year-old played nearly 270 games for the Fifers over a 10-year spell.

The Pars legend has faced his former side as assistant boss at Arbroath in 2010, but never as a manager.

“I’ve never been there for Montrose,” Petrie said.

“I was there for two of our first games at Arbroath were in Dunfermline, that’s going back a few years right enough.

“It’s always great to go back to East End Park.

“I went down towards the end of the season to get a look at them in case we got them in the play-offs.

“It’s a special place for me but we’ll be going down there and we won’t be doing them any favours.”