Raith Rovers manager Ian Murray has used his side’s free week for a “reset” ahead of Friday’s crucial Scottish Champions encounter with Dundee United.
Murray would have preferred a Scottish Cup tie last weekend, but welcomed the break, despite Friday’s opponents using it to extend their lead to four points at the top of the Championship.
That gap is not insurmountable, especially given Rovers have the chance to shrink it this weekend.
To do so, they will need to end a run of five consecutive defeats, but can take confidence from previous results against the league leaders this season: a 1-1 home draw and a sensational 1-0 win at Tannadice.
Asked if he was able to pinpoint the reasons for Raith’s recent run, Murray told Courier Sport: “It’s a bit of everything, really. You always look at every detail – is it physical, is it mental, is it expectation?
“I have to give credit to the other teams as well, we always knew it was going get harder and harder as the season went on because you’re coming up against teams for times a season.
“It’s not rocket science to see that they do their homework on you and vice versa.
“We got a wee bit sloppy in the backline at times. We maybe just stopped doing that work that we were doing before and expecting our strikers to score lots of goals.
“It’s very difficult. When you play the way we play, it’s always hard because you’re always trying to outgun teams and it’s not always going to work.
“That’s the way we want to do it, we don’t want to sit in and defend like mad in games where we don’t feel we need to.
“To answer the question,” he adds with a smile, “no, we don’t have all the answers, but we’ve certainly seen a huge reaction from the Airdrie game.
“Our training levels have definitely crept back up to where they were before Christmas.”
Raith team news
A steady stream of ticket sales at Stark’s Park saw the 7,000 mark passed on Wednesday, despite the match being moved for television to a cold February night.
In the Dundee United end, fewer than 100 briefs were still available at the time of writing.
✅ 7,000 tickets sold for Friday night!
Just over 800 tickets remain:
• 738 home
• 69 away
Secure your seat before they’re all gone:
🎟️ https://t.co/Q8PZ3aaVVP#YouBelong pic.twitter.com/cxWeVVOduF
— Raith Rovers Football Club (@RaithRovers) February 14, 2024
Training at Stark’s Park has been much busier in recent weeks too and Murray now has a full squad to choose from.
Sam Stanton is back and fully fit and Zak Rudden will be available despite leaving the field injured during his first start two weeks ago.
The return of Stanton is a particular boost for Rovers, who have only won once since he was injured during the 4-4 draw with Ayr United.
“It’s been a poor run for us but we’re hanging on to [United’s] coattails still,” said Murray.
“We’re still clear in second place and we know we’re capable.
“We’ve shown already this season that we can beat Dundee United, but it’s going to be a really hard game.”
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