Ian Murray has confessed Raith Rovers need to rediscover their ‘mojo’ after crashing to a fifth straight loss to miss out on the SPFL Trust Trophy final.
Murray admits his side did not deserve to progress to what would have been a fourth consecutive Challenge Cup decider after they succumbed to a deserved 1-0 defeat to Airdrie.
Former Dunfermline striker Nikolay Todorov was the match winner in just the sixth minute before Rovers struggled to find any rhythm in the blustery Kirkcaldy wind.
It all added up to a fourth game without victory for the Stark’s Park side against the Diamonds this season.
Murray said: “We didn’t start well and it was a really rubbish goal we let in, and we never got going until the 20, 25th minute.
“After that I thought we kind of controlled it, without creating anything though. But we certainly found our momentum a little bit.
“But, overall in the game, I don’t think we did enough to win the game, to be brutally honest.
“If Airdrie had shown a bit more quality in the final third in the second-half they could have scored another goal.”
He continued: “The conditions weren’t ideal but they were the same for both sets of players and teams. Airdrie handled it better.
‘Airdrie more clinical’
“I’ve got no qualms about the scoreline. I didn’t think we did enough as a home team in a semi-final to win it.
“I’m really, really disappointed for the players and the supporters as well.
“But I don’t grudge Airdrie their win because they were more clinical than us.”
With a free weekend because of the Scottish Cup next week, Raith now have some time to regroup before returning to action with a massive clash against Dundee United on February 16.
Murray admits that is a good thing as they strive to get out of a worrying slump.
He added: “We’ve got two weeks off now, which is probably a good thing. Nobody really wants a break, especially when you’re a point off the top (of the table).
“But it has come at a good time for us, because we’ve not played well now for a few weeks and we need to try to rectify it as quickly as we can.
“It’s only us that can do that and as a staff we have to go away and look at everything we’re doing and everything the players are doing.
“The players need to go away and look at everything they’re doing as well and help us with their feedback.
“We’re quite glad we’ve got that wee bit of time to work on a few things and get our mojo back again.
“We can only rectify that and that’s our aim.”
Injury update on Zak Rudden
Meanwhile, Raith are hopeful on-loan Dundee striker Zak Rudden will recover quickly after being substituted in the 36th minute.
Murray said: “Zak had an issue with his hamstring. I think it’s okay, I think it’s just tightness.
“It’s really frustrating for him and frustrating for us because we had to make that change early in the game.
“He’s come here to play minutes and get himself up to speed.
“Hopefully we’ll find out more in the next few days.”
