Raith Rovers manager Ian Murray is under no illusions about how difficult Friday night’s match will be.
Rovers travel to Ochilview for the third time this season to face a Queen’s Park side they have lost to twice in the Scottish Championship.
Murray’s side won the other, a 1-0 win in the quarter-final of the SPFL Trust Trophy.
Queen’s had better luck more recently in the Scottish Cup fifth round when they defeated Inverness but were subsequently thrown out after fielding an intelligible player.
It’s back to league business this weekend and even though Owen Coyle’s side have officially won just one of their last six, the Rovers boss knows they can click into gear as quickly as they have fallen out of form.
Queen’s Park had won eight on the bounce before that.
“That’s the Championship for you,” Murray tells Courier Sport, “you can go on good runs, but it can end so quickly.
Cutting the gap
“We know their players in forward areas can cause you real hurt and be a right handful.
“We know our players can do that as well, so it’s just who plays better on the day and who makes the least mistakes in the game.
“If we want to reel them in, we have to probably win it because we can cut it to seven points and we’re still to play them, there’s a chance.”
Confidence is high at Stark’s Park after reaching the SPFL Trust Trophy final and knocking Motherwell out of the Scottish Cup, stretching the unbeaten run to 12 matches.
The latter match led to the Steelmen parting ways with manager Stevie Hammell – Murray’s name was linked to the position but he earlier told Courier Sport it is not something he is thinking about.
Instead, the Raith boss – as relaxed now as he is when his side is on a poorer run – is firmly focusing on Queen’s Park on Friday night.
The players were given a slightly different schedule this week and took Tuesday off, he says, adding “there are a lot of tired bodies” after the three games in eight days.
No fresh injury concerns
There are no new injuries, though Jamie Gullan will be assessed ahead of Friday after only completing half a session in Wednesday’s training.
That means Lewis Vaughan, Ethan Ross and Ross Matthews are the only players on the sidelines.
Though now without Vaughan and potentially Gullan, Murray is blessed with more striking options than earlier in the campaign.
Isma Goncalves and Wiilliam Akio are both already off the mark despite still being very early into their Stark’s Park stints.
“Even though we still have three or four really good players out of the squad, we’ve got really good players in the squad as well,” continues Murray.
“We’ve got good depth and good quality.”
Conversation