John McGlynn says finishing second in the Championship would be an incredible achievement for his Raith Rovers team.
Defeat to Dundee on Saturday leaves the Stark’s Park outfit with one game to secure the runners-up spot on their return to the second tier.
A home victory over champions Hearts would do it but McGlynn admits he’d have been happy with far less than a battle for second at the start of the campaign.
“I would have settled for something like seventh at the start of the season!” he joked.
“We were never going to beat Hearts so I would consider getting second as winning the league.
“It is up to us to go and beat Hearts next week as it would make a big difference to finish second.
“Dundee will push for that as well.
“Hearts are a massive club who don’t belong in the Championship so if we could finish second to them it would be an incredible achievement.”
‘We didn’t produce enough quality’
McGlynn’s side came out on the wrong side of the 2-1 scoreline against Dundee and admits his side didn’t show enough at Dens Park.
A contest with few clear chances saw the Dark Blues take a 2-0 first-half lead thanks to a Jason Cummings penalty and Liam Fontaine header.
Kyle Benedictus would pop up in the final few minutes to net against his old side but it was too late to affect the result.
“There was not much in the game at all,” McGlynn said.
“A penalty and a corner kick, key moments in the game that got them a couple of goals which won the game. It wasn’t the greatest game.
“We got the goal too late to put any pressure on them. We just didn’t produce enough quality to open them up and were too slow and a bit laboured.
“It is still in our hands and that is all we can ask for.”
Dylan Tait red card
Rovers will be without midfielder Dylan Tait for the clash with Hearts and their first play-off match after he was sent off late on at Dens.
The 19-year-old was shown a red card by referee Willie Collum after going in late on Dundee’s Paul McGowan as the home side broke in stoppage time.
McGlynn had no complaints over the decision and also accepted the penalty call that went against Benedictus for handball in the first half.
“It was a sending off but we have plenty of cover in central midfield so it is not a massive concern,” he added.
“It was also a penalty although I don’t think he meant to handle it. We’ve seen those given all season so we just have to accept it.”
