Gary Locke heard the cheers turn to jeers in the space of just a few days – and hopes Raith Rovers can reverse their fortunes yet again against Dundee United this evening.
Rovers earned plaudits last week for the way they matched Hearts over nearly three hours of Scottish Cup football before succumbing in extra-time against their Premiership opponents at Tynecastle.
But last Saturday the Kirkcaldy side had to deal with the boos of their own fans after going down to a dispiriting 3-1 defeat at home to part-time Dumbarton.
However, the Raith boss is confident his side have it within them to spark a turnaround at Tannadice against a United team they have already drawn with twice this season and who are without a victory themselves in their last five outings.
He said: “When you get beat by Dumbarton at home, you’re going to get fans booing you off the pitch. Raith Rovers supporters expect us to beat Dumbarton at home, and so do we.
“It was a poor result for us, we certainly won’t hide from that fact, but we’ve quality throughout the squad.
“And if we can get to the level we showed at Hearts, because I felt over those two games you could see the confidence coming back, then we’ll give ourselves a great chance of winning.
“In the space of three days it shows you how quickly things can turn. And it can turn again. If we can go to Tannadice and get a good result it will give everybody a lift.
“We need to get a result, because we’ve been on a sticky run.
“But with the quality we’ve got in the squad we’re more than confident we can go there and get a win.”
Former Dundee midfielder Iain Davidson is struggling with a knee injury but new signing David Syme has been included in the squad.
Locke added: “They’ve got a great record at home, they’re unbeaten at Tannadice.
“They are a team who are one of the favourites to win the league, and rightly so with the resources they’ve got and the money they spend.
“It’s a difficult game for us but certainly one that we can win.”
