Imrie: 'Excellent' two-goal Raith Rovers hero could start v Partick Thistle

Montagu, 20, netted an impressive double against the Diamonds as Raith earned a crucial 3-1 victory which lifted them six points above the relegation zone with a game in hand.

And Imrie told the Fife Free Press: “Kai has done himself no harm, for sure.

"I thought he was excellent when he came on. Two great goals as well, his first two goals in senior football, so I'm delighted for Kai.

"Now the carrot's there for him to go and continue that and kick on.

"I've told him it's his job now to keep people out of the team.

"If he can perform the way he did on Saturday for 45 minutes on a more consistent basis, then he'll find himself starting more games.”

Imrie was also asked if the win on Saturday now means that targeting a finish in the upper reaches of the final Championship standings this season remains a possibility.

He said: “No, we just take one game at a time unfortunately. The league's so up and down. Queen's Park, a few weeks ago, were out of it (reaching the play-offs).

"Then they go and win three or four games on the bounce and they put themselves in play-off contention.

"Dunfermline, outwith the pack, go and win three or four games, get a couple of draws and they put themselves in the top four. Ayr are on a bit of a slide at the moment, creeping towards that bottom end as well.

"It's a really difficult league to predict, but with a few wins under your belt on the bounce you can propel yourself up the way.

"It's the same on the flip side of that. You lose a few games, you can propel yourself down the table.

"We've done well for a few weeks, and then not so well for a few weeks.

"If we can keep that winning consistency between now and the end of the season, we've got seven games left in the league and a cup final to look forward to as well. There's a lot at stake.

"If we can emulate anything like the levels we reached when beating Airdrie, I'm sure we'll win more games than we'll lose.”