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That 2-0 defeat – courtesy of goals by their hosts’ captain, Mitch Megginson, eight minutes in and five minutes into the second half – was their second in the Granite City in the space of a week following their 3-0 loss away to Aberdeen in their concluding Premier Sports Cup group game the preceding Sunday.

“Any game you lose is disappointing,” Murray told Raith TV after seeing his side draw a blank at the Balmoral Stadium at the weekend.

“It was opening day away from home. You’ve got an opportunity to go and give a good account of yourselves, and we never did that today.

Cove Rangers' Shay Logan getting away from Raith Rovers' Jamie Gullan during his side's 2-0 victory against the Fifers on Saturday at Aberdeen's Balmoral Stadium (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group)

“We let in two criminal goals at shocking times in the game, the second one in particular because that knocks the stuffing out of you a little bit, but that’s no excuse. There are no excuses. We have absolutely no excuses today.

“Two set plays have undone us. The first one we got a block against a corner, but that’s football – you’re going to get blocked.

“The second goal was as bad a goal as you’ll see probably all season from a defensive point of view. There were a lot of things within that that could have eradicated the problem, the biggest one being communication. Again, it comes down to responsibility on the pitch. We need players who are going to stand up and take responsibility.

“Our game knowledge was way below the standard that’s required to win games in this league, and that’s the most disappointing thing for me. We just lack a bit of character.”

Raith Rovers players looking on as Cove Rangers captain Mitch Megginson puts his side 1-0 up during their first-ever Scottish Championship game on Saturday (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group)

Murray, 41, also apologised to Rovers fans left disappointed after making the near-200-mile round trip from Kirkcaldy to the north east only to see their team end up bottom of the table without ever looking likely to pick up any points.

“When you see the amount of supporters we had up here today, apologies to them for the way that we played and the way we were during the game because in the first half we were all right and we were perhaps a little bit unfortunate to be behind, but in the second half we weren’t.”

Raith TV’s full interview with Murray can be seen online at https://www.raithrovers.net/raithtv

Raith Rovers boss Ian Murray says sorry to fans for 'criminal' display against new boys Cove Rangers