DUNFERMLINE want Jim Hamilton to spearhead their attack in the new season.

Pars boss Jim Leishman is ready to snap up the 30-year-old Motherwell striker and team him with Mark Burchill and Jim McIntyre for the new campaign.

Hamilton, right, spent three months at East End Park three years ago after signing as an amateur.

He was out of the game following his departure from Dundee United and then boss Jimmy Calderwood stepped in to offer him a short-term deal. Now Leishman wants him permanently as striker Noel Hunt stalls on committing his future to the club.

Leishman has already targeted McIntyre and will sign him if the former Kilmarnock frontman can arrange a pay-off from Tannadice, where Craig Brewster has made him surplus to requirements.

Hamilton has played for seven clubs in the SPL, including Hearts, Aberdeen and Livingston, and boasts the experience and pedigree Leishman admires.

He scored 11 times for Terry Butcher's side last season and would make an excellent foil for Burchill, who netted 15 times to help the Pars beat the drop.

Burchill has been offered a 12-month extension to his existing contract, which still has a year to run, and is likely to sign.

But Hunt has yet to put pen to paper on a new, two-year deal as he considers his options.

Dunfermline will look for compensation if Hunt, 23, quits the club for an SPL rival, with Aberdeen and Dundee United monitoring the situation.

Chairman John Yorkston said: "The rules state there is compensation due if Hunt moves in Scotland.

"We'd like him to stay but if he goes we'll be looking for the money we're due."

Taken from the Daily Record