Kyle Connell said he and his Raith Rovers teammates didn’t work hard enough for each other on their last trip to Cove Rangers.
The striker was thrown in for his debut at the Balmoral Stadium on the opening day of the Scottish Championship season – as was central defender Ryan Nolan.
Since then there have been noticeable improvements, most recently in the 3-2 win over Ayr United who topped the league going into last weekend.
It was also a match in which Connell got off the mark for his new club.
Over the moon
The Kilmarnock loanee opened the scoring with after a lovely piece of skill and then showed similar ingenuity to help create the winner.
YESTERDAY'S GOALS (1/3) | 🎥 @KyleConnell9 scored his first goal for the Rovers with a lovely turn and finish to put us 1-0 up.
Full highlights can be viewed on the @RaithTV YouTube channel 👇https://t.co/ZbzgRtIOEm#IMaRover pic.twitter.com/Ee3ZpdvkFO
— Raith Rovers Football Club (@RaithRovers) September 18, 2022
After the match manager Ian Murray revealed extra work had been done in training on Connell’s sharpness.
“It took a good few games to come but it’s always a positive when you do score a goal. I’m over the moon,” said the 21-year-old.
Asked if the extra work in training helped, he replied: “I’d say so, with the turn it’s just working on those moves in and around the box and I feel as if doing that during the week it really helped me going into the game.
“I had that in my head: just be sharper than the centre-halves.”
In it to win it
Connell will be hoping to take that same application as Raith begin their defence of the SPFL Trust Trophy.
Murray revealed that two players are set to miss the trip and that one long-term absentee could return.
He added that while he is taking the competition seriously he will use it to rest some players and to give others minutes.
Connell – who scored a double for East Fife versus Cove Rangers last season – sees no reason why they can’t go all the way in the tournament again.
“The boys will tell you about the run they went on last year and you want to do it again,” said the striker.
“It’s one of those ones, you want to win trophies as a football player.
“You want as much silverware as you can. Why not? Why not this year again?
“The first performance was terrible, we didn’t click at all. We need to go up there and put on a good show and hopefully get the win.”
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