Its exactly one month since we last played Raith. This time we visit Kirkcaldy to take on John Hughes side.
The Opposition
That last game between the sides was a 2-1 home victory which extended Raiths winless league run to 14 games, since claiming victory over us at Starks Park back in October. They would go on to make that 15 games with a defeat against Ayr the following midweek, a game in which they fielded Ryan Stevenson in goal, before finally recording a win against St Mirren, again at Starks Park. That was followed, though, by another defeat losing heavily by four goals to nil in Dumbarton. While we were losing to St Mirren last weekend, Raith were playing the other IRNBRU Cup finalists Dundee United and they fared rather better recording a 2-1 win over their former manager Ray McKinnon.
The Ayr game was to be Stevensons last for the club as the midfielder announced his retirement from football just a week later.
The Game
This Ladbrokes Championship match kicks off at 3pm on Saturday 25th March at Starks Park, Kirkcaldy.
There will be a minutes silence ahead of the game for the recent terrorist attack in London.
Live updates will be available on the website and on Twitter and Facebook. We will also publish pictures through the day on our new Instagram Channel
The Fans
The away fans will be in the McDermid Stand, which is behind the goals at the north end of the ground.
Admission prices are:
Adult £15
Junior (Under 16, when accompanied by an adult) £5
Junior (12-16, when unaccompanied) £8
Senior Citizen (Over 65) £8
College/Uni Concession £10
Jobseeker Concession £10
Disability & Carer Concession (Disabled person £8 with Carer FREE)
The Dressing Room
Last week was the angriest I've been with the players since I've been at the club. Our failure to manage the game properly left me both frustrated and angry. I can't fault the players on effort or fitness but there is something within the squad that is causing us to lose games that we shouldn't be losing. During the game against St Mirren, we dominated for forty-three minutes and should have been well out of sight. A poor fifteen minutes either side of half time cost us, it's as simple as that. We can hide behind the fact that we hit the woodwork a couple of times and their goalkeeper made a few good saves but football is all about results and we haven't had good results in the last few games. We've discussed it as a group and the players know they can't afford to be slack and that they have to be at it for the full 90 minutes every week.
Four games ago we had a small chance of making the play-offs, but due to recents results we now have to be aware of the teams below us who are all starting to pick up results. We now need to make sure that we get a few positive results ourselves in the remaining seven games.
This week we head to Raith Rovers who had a good result themselves last week so they will be full of confidence. They know that if they win they can get level on points with us so that will be an extra incentive for them. However we picked up a well deserved win against them a few matches ago and hopefully we will get the same kind of result again on Saturday.
The Team
Defender Darren Brownlie has served his suspension and is therefore again available.
The Officials
Referee : Colin Steven
Assistant 1 : Michael Banks
Assistant 2 : Chris McTiernan
This is the first time Mr Steven has refereed one of our games. He has, though, taken charge at Starks Park before when he officiated Raiths 2-1 win over Montrose in this seasons Betfred Cup.
The Stats
The stats at Starks Park make for tough reading, with the home side well ahead on 29 wins to 16 and 8 draws. You have to go back to October 2014 to find the last away win when a very late Iain Russell goal gave us a 4-3 win in front of the TV cameras. That win, though, is our only league win in the last 11 visits to Kirkcaldy.
The recent form of both sides has been very similar with both picking up 7 points from their last 6 games. Raith have also picked up 7 points from their last 6 home games while we have 8 points from our last 6 away matches.
Not surprisingly, only 3 points separate the two sides in the league table.