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Neill Collins gives Sam Stanton update as Raith Rovers welcome back Fife derby star for Dunfermline clash

The Stark's Park side have been bolstered ahead of their first meeting of the season with rivals Dunfermline.

Raith Rovers midfielder Sam Stanton.
Raith Rovers midfielder Sam Stanton. Image: Paul Devlin / SNS Group.

Neill Collins has hailed the return of Sam Stanton for Raith Rovers ahead of this week’s crunch Fife derby.

New boss Collins insists the midfielder will be key to his side going forward and was thrilled to see the 30-year-old play the final half an hour against Ayr United on Sunday.

Stanton’s return after a three weeks out with a groin injury failed to prevent Raith from crashing out of the SPFL Trust Trophy with a 3-2 defeat at Somerset Park.

But Collins believes the former Dundee United and Hibernian player was one of the stand-out players in the Championship last season and is delighted to have him available for the trip to East End Park.

In a remarkable record, the talismanic Stanton scored in four out of six of the meetings with Dunfermline last season, including two outright winners.

The Raith Rovers players celebrate Sam Stanton's goal in the Scottish Cup win against Dunfermline last November.
The Raith Rovers players celebrate Sam Stanton’s goal in the Scottish Cup win against Dunfermline last November. Image: SNS.

Kieran Freeman’s comeback against Ayr after a foot injury that had sidelined him for six weeks has further boosted Collins’ options for Friday night’s derby.

And Lewis Vaughan also got another 15 minutes under his belt after an injury-curtailed start to the new campaign.

“It was very good to get Sam and Kieran back on Sunday,” Collins told Courier Sport.

“Sam has obviously been a huge player for Raith Rovers.

“At times, I think he was probably the best player in the league last season.

Stanton ‘really important for us’

“So, I’m delighted to get him back.

“I really wanted to get him on against Ayr because he’s going to be really important for us.

“But we’re still missing Scott Brown, an important part of my team. He’ll be out for a little bit longer.”

Euan Murray was another who sat out Sunday’s clash with Ayr due to a groin problem.

However, the 30-year-old did some running on the Somerset Park pitch after the full-time whistle and will attempt to step up his recovery regime this week.

Sam Stanton challenges for the ball during Raith Rovers' defeat to Ayr United.
Sam Stanton played for the final half an hour in the defeat to Ayr United. Image: Paul Devlin / SNS Group.

Collins added: “Euan’s not trained an awful lot and we need to get him training more to be available.

“I thought the back three did really well but we missed Euan.”

Meanwhile, Collins admits he hopes to build ‘resilience’ in his side after watching them wilt under the pressure against Ayr.

Rovers were fairly comfortable after racing into a 2-0 lead after just 14 minutes thanks to goals from Callum Smith and Dylan Easton.

But there was a clear vulnerability about the Kirkcaldy men after Anton Dowds had pulled one back for the Honest Men just three minutes after the half-time break.

Collins: ‘We need to work on that’

Two goals inside a minute from Dowds and George Oakley then denied Collins a debut victory.

“Momentum is big in British football,” Collins commented. “One team looks like they’re dead and buried and then they get out of it.

“Especially when they’ve got big, physical strikers that allow them to simplify it.

“I actually thought our centre backs generally dealt with it well. But it probably just told in the end.

“We need to work on that. And it’s experiences like that one that make you learn and find out who has got the resilience and who doesn’t. That’s part of the journey.”

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