Extra excitement for Raith Rovers star Ross Matthews in testimonial year

Matthews, 28, who has made over 250 Raith appearances since making his club debut way back in 2013, played as the Kirkcaldy side recorded a 1-0 home friendly win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Stark’s Park last Saturday thanks to new signing Paul Hanlon’s late strike from close range.

"I'm feeling extremely positive," Matthews – who filled in at right-back in the latter part of last season having previously been deployed as a central midfielder - told Raith TV.

"I'm open to kind of playing anywhere.

"I still see myself as a midfielder but if the gaffer (Ian Murray) asks me to play right-back, I'm more than happy to play right-back.

"The most important thing for me is that I get a proper pre-season.

"Last year I had maybe the first two or three weeks of pre-season then I had bother with my ankle.

"It's looking a lot more positive now.

"I have built my fitness up to go into the season as strong as I can.

"I'm definitely looking to add more goals to my game. This season I'll be trying to get into the box as much as I can and help the team out with some goals.

"We've had quite a few weeks off so it's good to just get back playing.

"All the new guys that have come in have fitted in really well. They all look extremely fit, top pros and it's looking exciting going into this season."

Matthews – whose team will be back into competitive action this Saturday as they visit Stirling Albion in their Premier Sports Cup Group H opener, kick-off 3pm, before playing their second pool match at home to Stranraer next Tuesday, July 16, kick-off 7.45pm – is glad that pre-season is coming to an end.

"It's building that match fitness,” he added.

“You can do all the running and training that you want, but getting that match fitness is different, it's the first step.

"You're enjoying your summer but you're wanting to get back.

“You’re wanting to meet the new players, see the guys from last season and get back training and playing.

"I don't think any player actually enjoys the running pre-season but it needs to be done. We need to be as fit as we can to make sure we have a good season.

"And credit to the guys, everyone came back really fit, probably the fittest team I've been a part of. When I first started here I think people would have a lot longer holidays and not really do much.

"But now I think there's so much demand on the physical side of the game that everyone in the off season actually does quite a lot of running.

"It's obviously good to get that break initially but for a week or two running up to coming back for pre-season I'm sure most of the boys were in the gym.”

Matthews said that Raith's new sports scientist Mac Kenney had been putting the players through their paces in the build-up to the competitive 2024-25 campaign.

"To be fair he's been good to us," he added. "He's kind of always dangled a carrot that if we did a run in a certain time he'd bring the football out next.

"There's been a lot of work with the ball which has been just as tough but that's what the players like, it's been really good.”

Matthews this week helped model Raith’s new home kit which is now on sale, adult top £45 and kids top £35, available at https://www.raithrovers.net/product-category/replica-kit/

The shirt features the standard bold navy blue with red and white lines across the shoulders and down the sides.