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Jamie Gullan reveals ‘shock to the system’ on return to Raith Rovers training and hopes friendly goals set tone for the season

Jamie Gullan
Raith Rovers striker Jamie Gullan.

Raith Rovers striker Jamie Gullan said he is “feeling a lot better every day” following his injury last season and hopes his goals in preseason are a sign of things to come.

The former Hibernian player’s campaign was ended early last season due to injury following his move to Stark’s Park in January.

Gullan had spent three loan spells in Kirkcaldy under previous manager John McGlynn before signing permanently at the start of the year.

McGlynn has since been replaced by Ian Murray, another former Hibee, whose fitness training schedule certainly challenged Gullan when the players returned from their summer break.

“At the start [of preseason] it was a shock to the system,” said the 23-year-old.

“We had quite a lot of time off – and then I got injured towards the end of last season.

Jamie Gullan while on loan at Raith during the 2020/21 season.

“So I had a couple of months off. It took a week to get back up to speed but I’m feeling a lot better every day.

“Playing the games has been brilliant, getting a lot of minutes early on. It can only benefit me going into the season.”

Frustrations of last season

Getting on the scoresheet three times so far in preseason will not have done his confidence any harm either.

Gullan netted twice in the match against Dunbar United before opening the scoring versus Kelty Hearts on Saturday.

He is hoping it carries on into the competitive action after a frustrating campaign last time.

The striker managed nine goals for Raith during 2019/20, adding another four the following season.

After finding the net just once between January and March before his injury, he is looking to put that right.

“I didn’t contribute enough goals last season, said Gullan. “It was a bit
stop-start when I signed permanently in January.

“To get off the mark early in preseason is always good and it hopefully sets the tone for the cup games and then the league.

“Hopefully I can carry it on. It’s what I want to be doing: scoring goals for Raith.”

‘I can’t wait to get started’

The No 9 added that his new boss has started to introduce more strategic elements to his training sessions as the preseason porgresses.

“To be fair, preseason has been a lot fitness stuff and we’ve started to do more tactical work over the last 10 days,” said Gullan.

Raith take on Alloa on Saturday at Stark’s Park, their final friendly before the competitive action gets under way at home to Peterhead the following Wednesday.

“He’s been telling me how he wants me to play, where he sees you in attacking positions.

“If I can lead the line and score goals, then I’m happy.”

“I want to keep fit, play as many games as I can and contribute well to the team.

“I’m looking forward to the season starting, I can’t wait to get into the competitive stuff.”

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