Jason Thomson admits the Raith players are desperately seeking answers to their recent form slump – and he is hoping they finally find them tonight against Morton at Stark’s Park.
Rovers suffered their fifth Championship defeat in a row on Saturday when they were well beaten by Dundee United with the Kirkcaldy side left sitting just four points ahead of second-bottom Ayr in the league table.
Manager Gary Locke, his backroom staff and the players had a lengthy discussion in the away dressing-room after the game.
Now, skipper Thomson insists he and the rest of the team have to react strongly when they face Morton in what is a crunch encounter for the club.
He said: “It is a tough, tough game and it is a big one for us as well.
“We can forget about looking up the way. We are certainly looking down the way.
“Football is hard – it is not an easy game – and we need to dig deep to stop the run of defeats.
“I wouldn’t dress it up – it was a meeting after the United game.
“It was like it has been for a while now after games, trying to figure out what is going wrong.
“It is not easy. We all know we are playing badly but why are we doing that? Why is he playing badly? Why am I playing badly? It is hard to get an answer.
“It is not like we are shying away from it. We are facing up to it and trying to find answers to stop it.
“All I can say is we will keep on trying and hope we can maybe get that wee break.
“But to be honest it is more than a wee break – we need to get a result from somewhere.
“We can’t just rely on luck, we have to do it ourselves as a team and everyone at the club.
“It is not just the XI, everyone needs to pull their socks up.
“We know the position we are in but we will keep on fighting starting against Morton.”
Raith will be without first-choice keeper Kevin Cuthbert who had to come off in the first half against United because of an abdominal injury with Conor Brennan once again set to deputise between the sticks.
Meanwhile, Morton boss Jim Duffy insists it is all about Raith Rovers and not Rangers as he looks for his side to bounce back in the Championship ahead of facing the Ibrox men in the Scottish Cup on Sunday.
The Greenock outfit lost for the first time in 2017 when they went down 3-0 at Queen of the South on Saturday and Duffy knows that focusing fully on Locke’s Kirkcaldy side is the only way that they can pick up a win.
Duffy explained: “All our focus is on this game and not playing Rangers. In a league as tight as the Championship, you cannot afford to take your eye off the ball and think too far ahead. You will get punished if you do that.
“Raith are going through a disappointing run but they are at home and will see this as a great chance to get winning again. If we go there thinking about our next game then that will increase their chances of winning.
“They played really well against Hearts a couple of weeks ago so we know that cannot focus on anything else.”
Striker Gary Oliver picked up a knock at Palmerston and is unlikely to feature and with fellow front men Jai Quitongo and Kudus Oyenuga also missing.
