Raith Rovers boss John McGlynn will take his injury-ravaged side to face Morton tonight keen to restore some much-needed breathing space between themselves and the teams below them.
While supporters are no doubt looking forward to the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden, first division survival remains the priority for everyone at Rovers after the weekend’s results saw them pulled dangerously close to the relegation playoff zone.
Defeat at home to Fife rivals Dunfermline would have been bad enough, but a win for eighth-placed Ayr and a last-gasp winner for tonight’s hosts over Partick Thistle compounded Raith’s misery on Saturday as both moved to within two points of the Kirkcaldy club in the table.
Rovers still have two games in hand on both Ayr and Morton, but with McGlynn’s men coming up against Morton at Cappielow tonight and then welcoming Ayr to Stark’s Park on Saturday, the next few days could prove crucial in their battle to avoid the drop.
Having lost five out of their last six league games, McGlynn knows his side have to start picking up points pretty smartish — particularly against the clubs closest to them.
“We had 36 big games at the start of the season but it’s the same every week — it’s just another big game for us, but they are all big games,” he said.
“There are a lot of points to be won but winning the games against teams directly below us will make a significant difference.
“The games that will be massive will be the game against Morton, the two games against Ayr and the two games against Airdrie, but there’s no reason we can’t pick up points against the other teams in the league.
“We’ve picked up points in these other games most of the season against most of the other teams so I’m quite confident.
“But the main issue is the availability of players.
“The injuries we’ve had all season just keep mounting up and mounting up so we’ve never really had a break.”
Rovers’ absentee list certainly isn’t getting any shorter at a time when they could be doing with a full squad, with midfielder Stephen Simmons automatically missing tonight’s trip west after his sending-off against the Pars on Saturday.
Striker Johnny Russell suffered a recurrence of a knee injury at the weekend and will also miss out, joining Graham Weir, Thierry Gathuessi, Iain Davidson, Craig Wilson and Mark Campbell on the sidelines.
The Rovers boss added, “We can’t just keep pulling rabbits out of hats and it seems to be getting more and more difficult every week.
“We could do with getting some of these players back available so we can give it a right good go, but we’ve just got to battle on at the moment.”
Reflecting on Saturday’s defeat to the Pars, McGlynn said, “I didn’t think we were in any danger but obviously with 10 men the gaps can open up.
“Dunfermline are a good team and to get back level with 10 men I thought we showed loads of courage so I’ve no complaints with our players whatsoever.
“They fought right to the death and we kept on going right to the death, so it was disappointing to lose.”