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DUNFERMLINE have offered Farid El Alagui a new deal and have set a deadline for the striker to make a decision.
The former Falkirk and Hibs marksman joined the Pars on a short-term agreement in September after proving his fitness to manager Allan Johnston during a trial spell but is out of contract this month.
The 31-year-old was plagued by injuries after rupturing his achilles tendon with Hibs in August 2014 but has been fully fit in recent months and has scored four times in 16 appearances for the Fifers.
The French-Moroccan has been kept out of the starting line-up since December 3 by the form of Michael Moffat and Nicky Clark but provides Johnston with another option in attack should he want to play with more of a target man.
Johnston said: “We’ve made Farid an offer of a contract for the rest of the season.
“We’ve set a deadline on that as well because we need to move forward.
“He’s had a bit of time to think about it and he needs to get back to us within the next few days with a final decision.
“His current contract’s up this month and we’ll see what happens.”
Dunfermline will seek to extend a nine-game unbeaten sequence when they travel to face Alloa Athletic in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.
GRANTED
The Pars negotiated a potential banana skin in the last round away to Highland League leaders Buckie Thistle and are desperate to piece together a cup run to go with their revival in the league.
However, Johnston is fully aware that Alloa, who are currently sitting second in League One, will provide stiff competition after defeating Ross County and Inverness Caley Thistle in the Betfred Cup earlier in the season.
He added: “There’s a wee bit of freshness with the cup, which is always good, but it’s going to be a hard tie and we’re playing against a team that’s been used to winning, with the confidence that brings.
“They’ve got a lot of good players, especially going forward, so we know we can’t take anything for granted.
“But confidence is high just now and the boys are playing well. We’re on a good run and, with the squad we’ve got, I’m sure we’ll keep the momentum up.”
