Raith Rovers: Boss Ian Murray welcomes return of cup tied pair for Cove Rangers match this Saturday and gives update on Scott Brown fitness

Seventh-placed Raith go into the match against eighth-placed Cove – who they lead by nine points with a game in hand – on the back of seeing a long unbeaten run ended at 14 matches in a 3-0 Championship defeat at Partick Thistle on March 4, before their Scottish Cup run was ended at the quarter-final stage by a 3-0 loss at Rangers on Sunday.

“I don’t think it (losing the Neill goal in injury time) gives us any more added incentive or hunger playing Cove this time,” Rovers manager Murray told the Fife Free Press. “I think we want to win the game anyway.

"The main objective is to get three points in the league and that sets us up nicely for the next again weekend.

"It will be a tough one.

"We know Cove aren’t on a great run but we’ve seen in this league how it can turn very, very quickly.

"We know they’ve got dangerous players and we need to make sure that being the home team, we take the game to them.”

Rovers are boosted by the return of William Akio and Scott McGill, who were both cup tied against Rangers.

Skipper Scott Brown is due to to train tomorrow (Thursday), as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury, but Ross Matthews and Jamie Gullan are definitely out through injury with Ross Millen also expected to miss the Cove fixture.

When asked if, in hindsight, he would have employed any different tactics in the Rangers cup loss, Murray added: “Not at all. I think sometimes you can go away from games and have a look back at the little things that you maybe got wrong, think of a decision you got wrong or the players could have done this.

"But I genuinely don’t think there’s much we could have done. I think Rangers were always going to pin us in and stuff.

"I thought we defended our box magnificently and our shape and structure in the game was good.”