Neil Lennon picks out one team as 'template' for Dunfermline Athletic's promotion bid
Neil Lennon has singled out Livingston as a template Dunfermline could follow in their hunt for promotion back to the Premiership.
Lennon has set lofty targets for the Pars after penning a two-year deal to stay on as manager.
He would love a title push next season but has confessed that, with the rebuilding job he has ahead, that might be a stretch.
However, owner James Bord has publicly set the goal of a return to the top-flight within the next two years and Lennon shares those ambitions.
How to bring success is the big question.
The Fifers boss believes lessons can be learned from the way Livi built a team that saw off Partick Thistle and Ross County in the play-offs to bounce straight back up.
'Looking at the games we had at the end of last season,' he said, 'there wasn't much between the teams, all the teams. Just that little bit of quality.
'I expected Livi to go up. I thought they would have done it automatically, but such was Falkirk's consistency; John (McGlynn) did a good job there.
'But then I fancied Davie (Martindale, Livingston manager) to take them up, and he did that.
'That's the type of team that you need for the Championship; you need to be strong. There's good energy about Livingston, and they've sprinkled it with a bit of quality as well.
'So, it's a bit of a template to look at, that's for sure.'
Meanwhile, Lennon has addressed the potential for Dunfermline to take advantage of the new 'Co-operation System' agreed by the Scottish FA and SPFL.
The scheme allows U/21 players eligible to play for Scotland to move freely between previously agreed teams outside the transfer windows.
Championship sides can go into partnership with one club from each of the other divisions in the SPFL.
'I'm not really massive into loans,' commented Lennon. 'I want to sign players, I want them here.
'I don't want them thinking about other things, I want them focused on being here. That's the only way you can really be successful.
'There might be a couple of loans that come up that you go, yeah, he could make us better.
'But, in an ideal world, I wouldn't go massive on the loan side of things.'
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