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Ray McKinnon happy for Raith to fly under the radar

The Raith players celebrating at St Mirren in midweek.
The Raith players celebrating at St Mirren in midweek.

To say that Raith have punched above their weight this season would be something of an understatement.

Despite that, there has hardly been what could be called widespread recognition of the job manager Ray McKinnon is doing with a squad built on what is the smallest full-time budget in Scotland.

That is little short of incredible considering that Rovers have now opened up a 10-point gap between themselves in the fourth-place promotion play-off place and Morton in fifth.

However, McKinnon is more than happy for the spotlight to fall firmly on the so-called Championship “big guns”, Rangers, Falkirk and Hibs while Rovers quietly go about their business.

He said: “We have been under the radar and I’m happy with that.

“I know it’s all ifs and buts but we’re not that far behind Hibs at the moment and everybody is saying they’ve had an unbelievable season.

“Listen, our resources are what they are. It’s been stated often enough that we’ve got the lowest wages in the league of any full-time club.

“Hibs and even Falkirk have astronomical wage bills, compared to us.

“For where we are, and how competitive we have been against them, yes, we probably are flying under the radar.

“That’s just a fact of life. You are Raith Rovers, you are not Hibs and you are not Falkirk at this moment. We’re happy enough to be under the radar.

“We’ve just got to sneak in the back door and have a right go if we get there.

“Yes, we’ve got a 10-point lead but I’ve seen them disappear.

“I remember Greg Norman had a six-shot lead at the Masters and it was gone in about three holes!”

While delighted with the position Rovers find themselves in, McKinnon confessed he was surprised just how well they have done so far this season considering he had to revamp his squad during the summer.

The manager added: “I am surprised with where we are because, when I came in at the start of the season, the club needed a complete overhaul. And I was told there was no money to do it.

“We’ve worked hard to bring in players and I don’t think we’ve brought in one dud.

“There is not one player who hasn’t contributed. Jon Daly did well for me, Craig Wighton did well, Ryan Hardie is doing well, Louis Longridge, Aidan Connolly we’ve recruited really, really well.

“I don’t think we’ve got one wrong. That’s been the most pleasing thing.

“We can’t go and sign Anthony Stokes, proven players like that. We have to go for guys who cost less money.

“But we’re definitely getting our money’s worth, I think.

“It’s all good. Fingers crossed we just keep it going.”

Raith’s win against St Mirren in Paisley on Tuesday night all but ended the Buddies’ hopes of snatching fourth place in the Championship.

Another victory for Rovers over Morton in Greenock tomorrow would probably kill off Jim Duffy’s side’s hopes of securing that last play-off place however McKinnon was determined not to make any rash predictions.

He added: “Mathematically, they (St Mirren) can catch us. But it’s going to be very tough for them. We would need to lose every game but, mathematically, it can still happen for them.

“We will now go down to Morton and try to keep them out of it.

“I was at a dinner with Jim Duffy the other week and he was pointing out that we’d scored three last-minute winners against them this season. I told him it would be four after this weekend! He must be having nightmares about us.”