Ian Murray accepts that people will be looking for Raith Rovers to pull off a Scottish Cup shock against Livingston.
But the Stark’s Park boss insists his side will need a near-perfect performance to have a chance of victory over their Premiership hosts.
Livi are rock bottom of the top-flight and without a win in their last 13 outings.
Meanwhile, Raith are joint top of the Championship and have been in impressive form – at least until going through a ‘sticky patch’ with just one win from their last five matches.
Murray is adamant the Kirkcaldy side will head for Almondvale still full of confidence.
However, despite Livi’s recent results, he is in no doubt Rovers face a massive task in trying to cause an upset.
He said: “I know what people will be saying about this game. I’m pretty sure they’ll be looking at this one for a potential upset and cup shock.
“Livingston are having a bad time of it compared to what they’re used to.
“But that’s because of how well David Martindale has done with Livingston and how well Livingston have done as a football club.
Difficult
“Now, people expect them to retain their top league status. But it’s difficult. Every manager will tell you the same.
“It’s really, really hard and I think they’ve done remarkably well over the last five or six years to stay in the Premiership – and not just that but be very competitive.”
Addressing Livi’s run without a victory stretching back over three months, Murray added: “If you reverse it and Livingston were in our league with their squad, they certainly wouldn’t be 13 games without a win.
“The level they’re playing at is higher than the level we’re playing at, and they’ve got some good players.
“We’ll go there thinking we can win the game, that’s the bottom line.
“But we know nothing is going to be handed to us and we know Livingston aren’t going to lie down and roll over and let us tickle them.
“So, we need to go there and play really, really well and match them physically, which is really, really difficult as well.
“But I have no doubts that if we turn up to Livingston and we’re bang on our game then we’ll give them a really, really good match.”
During Murray’s spell in charge, Raith have faced Premiership opposition on five occasions in cup competitions.
Physical
They have suffered defeats against Aberdeen, Hibernian and Rangers, but drew with Kilmarnock at the start of the season – followed by a penalty-kicks success – and defeated Motherwell last term.
Despite going into the tie on the back of defeats to Airdrie and Queen’s Park, the Rovers manager has belief in his players.
He added: “I’m looking forward to it. Everyone always likes the Scottish Cup.
“It’s a good game but it’s going to be a really hard game against Livingston, that’s for sure, and a really physical game as well, I would imagine.
“But we go there full of confidence. We don’t go into it with any negative vibes, whatsoever.
“We’ve been quite fortunate that we’ve had a few decent games against Premiership opponents.
“We’ve not only got good results but we’ve played really well, which is great.
“I expect Livingston to come back from their winter break all guns blazing.
“They’ll see this as an opportunity or a catalyst for the second part of their season, as much as we see it as an opportunity to progress as well.”
