Raith Rovers manager Grant Murray admitted yesterday that defeat to Queen of the South tonight would probably kill off the Kirkcaldy club’s faint play-off hopes.
But the Stark’s Park boss is determined to keep the promotion race alive with a win over the team currently in pole position for that coveted fourth place finish.
Eleven points separate the two sides in the Championship heading into this evening’s fixture and Murray is well aware of how big a deficit that is to claw back in such a competitive league.
Nevertheless, that will not stop Rovers from doing their best to reduce the gap to eight points with a win over James Fowler’s men tonight and potentially keep things interesting in the run-in.
“I think every game now is the last chance saloon for us,” he acknowledged.
“We need to keep winning, it’s as simple as that, and putting pressure on the teams above us.
“But to be honest we could go and win every game between now and the end of the season and it wouldn’t make any difference.
“It should make a difference, if we were able to do that, but we’ve just got to concentrate on one game at a time and look to get a good performance and get three points.
“I think our aim is to finish as high as we can, and we don’t want to worry about what’s happening below us.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re putting in performances that can pick up points, and that’s all we can ask.
“I think it will be another close game and where they are just now Queen of the South will be wanting to maintain their gap over Falkirk or even extend it.
“They’ll want to keep themselves in that fourth spot and they look the stronger team at the moment to do that because they are ahead of Falkirk at this moment in time.
“But they are a good side, home and away, and they’ve had a good Scottish Cup run.
“It’s a difficult place to go down there and they’ve had some good results against the big teams as well so we’ve got to be wary of that when they come here.”
Rovers go into tonight’s game on the back of a 2-1 win over Alloa on Saturday and Murray was relatively pleased with the performance throughout.
“Obviously it was a wee blow when Alloa got it back to 1-1 but that’s just one of these things,” he continued.
“I think we could have scored more to be honest and we always looked quite comfortable.
“Alloa hit the bar early doors and Davie McGurn has had a couple of saves but, apart from that, I thought we were strong.”
As a player, Murray began his senior career with Hearts and passed on his congratulations to the Tynecastle club on their title triumph, although he admitted he didn’t expect the Edinburgh club to romp away with the league as they have done.
He added: “I don’t think anyone expected them to win it so comfortably.
“I expected them to be up there and you expect it to be between Hearts, Rangers and Hibs.
“It should be with the size of clubs they are and the resources they have.
“I didn’t expect it to be as big a gap, but obviously it’s been difficult for Rangers on the field and off the field.
“They’ve changed their manager, there’s a lot that’s gone on, and they’ve had to adapt.
“But at the start of the season Hearts adapted quicker than anyone and it was a massive win for them when they beat Rangers in the first game.
“It was only the first game but it was a huge game for them to win.
“So credit to them.
“At the end of the day you get what you deserve out of football and I think Hearts have deserved it.
“I think they are quite capable of doing well in the Premier League next season with the amount of young players that they have got, although you probably wouldn’t even describe them as young now.
“You’ve got Jamie Walker, Sam Nicolson, Billy King they’ve been there and done it now, and they’ve got the experience of playing in the Premier League under very difficult circumstances last year which will have given them a big lift this season.
“Hearts will also add in the summer like any other club that goes up, but they are such a big club they will attract players.
“They are such a big club that I think the Premier League needs them, and in truth the Premier League needs Hearts, Rangers and Hibs.
“Unfortunately they can’t all go back in this season but the ones who deserve to be back in will get there, and Hearts deserve to be there.”