Having shown their mettle with late, late shows in the past fortnight, league leaders Raith Rovers’ resilience will once more be put to the test this Saturday when they make the trip to face Morton.
After regaining top spot last weekend, the Kirkcaldy club are all too aware the division’s other sides will be gunning for them although no one can doubt Rovers’ commitment to the cause after dramatic late winners against Cowdenbeath and Ross County in recent weeks put them in pole position on merit.
It is that never say die attitude which has propelled Rovers up the table and kept them in the title fight, but away games against the likes of Morton who have mustered just nine points from 10 games are the fixtures the Fife club need to be taking points from to boost any title aspirations they may have.
Captain Iain Davidson has been one of the driving forces behind Raith’s stunning opening to the campaign and reckons he and his team-mates need little motivation to keep up their form this weekend.
“We don’t mind when we score and as you could see on Saturday we’re not going to stop trying until the final whistle,” he said.
“We’re a pretty fit bunch and that’s important in this league because there really isn’t very much to choose between any of the teams.
“It would be nice to score a bit earlier in games, although it is the best feeling when you score so late on maybe the manager wouldn’t agree.”
Dunfermline, who lost top spot last week after drawing with Dundee, remain within touching distance of Rovers at the top and will fancy their chances of picking up three points at home to Stirling Albion.CropperHowever, Rovers themselves came a cropper at home to the Binos recently, losing their unbeaten start to the season thanks to a 2-0 defeat at Stark’s Park, and the eyes of many Raith fans will turn to see if Stirling have managed to achieve a Fife double come quarter to five.
But Davidson admitted, “We’ve got to look after ourselves first and foremost and not bother about what other teams are saying or doing.
“Time will tell if we have what it takes to stay where we are but there is no-one at this club going to get carried away and make rash claims about what we can achieve.
“At the start of the season we agreed we would be aiming for a top-half finish and that hasn’t changed. “I hope we can kick on from here and keep up this form.”
Rovers boss John McGlynn has been understandably delighted with his side’s start to the season but knows what problems this weekend’s hosts could pose at Cappielow, given the fact that Rovers suffered a 5-0 defeat there last season.
Indeed, a Gregory Tade goal six minutes from time gave Raith a narrow win over Morton at Stark’s Park on August 28 and McGlynn is expecting another close encounter.
“Morton seem to be very inconsistent at the moment but we only beat them narrowly at home either in the season so it will take another good performance from us to get the three points,” he said.
“The 5-0 defeat at Cappielow was the low point of last season, no doubt, and it was one of those days where what could go wrong did go wrong.
“You know you’re always going to get a tough game at Cappielow and they’ve made some changes as well but we are going there this weekend in much better shape than we did last year and with a stronger squad all round.”
McGlynn will be without long-term injury victim Dougie Hill, and Stephen Simmons remains a slight doubt after limping off against Ross County last week.