In photos: Raith Rovers players put through their pre-season paces

The new Raith Rovers manager was looking forward to running the rule over his troops after the initial personnel changes following the campaign just ended, which saw the departure of Kyle Benedictus, Reghan Tumilty and Frankie Musonda, with the arrival of Scott Brown and Dylan Easton, the retention of Brad Spencer and an added role for Christophe Berra.

"It was good – the players are excited to be back, swapping stories, finding out how everybody had been,” said Murray. “The boys were in good condition, as I expected, and it was nice for myself and (assistant) Scott Agnew to meet the players and all the staff who were in as well.

“It was a day where the manager casts his eye over his players and gets a look at the various personalities but we kind of shift all that stuff over to our sports science and fitness side of it, and they will keep us right on who maybe needs a bit extra and whole doesn’t. But, mainly, to the naked eye, the boys looked in good condition – we just tried not to over-work them too much at the beginning, as it's a long-term aim we are looking at. So, overall, it was a really, really good day.”

Three trialists joined the regular squad as well and Murray explained: "There are a couple of boys here I know well, which is why they are in. We want to be fair and assess the players we have and give them a fair opportunity. Like probably every manager in Scotland, we offer numerous amounts of trialists throughout every day. Without being disrespectful, it’s hard to judge, because we certainly don’t want to bring in trialists just for the sake of it, waste people’s time and bring down the standard of our training session – but we also don’t want to miss a hidden gem somewhere. So it’s a very difficult balance. We will always try and keep it as minimal as possible but, if one or two catch our eye, or we trust the agent from previously, then we will certainly look at them.” All pictures by Fife Sports Agency