By SCOTT MULLEN

BRAEHEAD CLAN will open their new EIHL campaign with a home derby against east coast rivals Fife Flyers.

The fixture list for the forthcoming campaign was released this morning and pits Ryan Finnerty's men against the side that dramatically dumped them out of the play-off quarter-finals back in April.

The schedule is also unusual for Clan fans who have been used to following their team on the road for the first chunk of fixtures due to Disney On Ice taking over the Braehead Arena.

However, this term will see them hit home ice straight away on Sunday September 4 in the Challenge Cup.

Fife and Braehead will also meet on January 2 in Kirkcaldy in tasty New Year battle.

“It’ll be nice to be on home ice for the first month rather than be on the road,” said Finnerty. “The guys have just arrived in the country will get to settle instead of hitting the road for a month.

“Plus there’s the journey to Edinburgh or Auchenharvie for practice every day, which makes things a bit tough.

“We won’t be at home in November though, but at least we’ll have a few months to enjoy it before that happens.

“Having the Challenge Cup so early means you don’t have the distraction of mixing them into the league schedules, like it in the past.

“It saves doubling them up so you don’t have to get them out the way before the end of the year.  That can be heavy on the schedule and tough on the guys.

“Getting them done and dusted early is a good decision and gives us the advantage of sounding out other teams that play in our Conference.”