Raith Rovers' derby goal hero was 'struggling with illness and injury'

The former Acrington Stanley winger, 24, who is signed on a short trem deal until January, replaced Jack Hamilton after 64 minutes at Stark’s Park and slotted home 10 minutes later to seal a 2-0 Fife derby win in the Scottish Championship tie which had earlier seen Raith take a spectacular first half lead thanks to Dylan Easton’s free-kick.

"Earlier in the week I had picked up an injury in training and it was a painful one,” Nigerian ace David, also known as Cody, told Raith TV post match. "Not a muscle injury, but it’s one that really affects how you run and what you can do.

"So I was required to come in for a test before the game to make sure that I was OK to function.

"I was struggling with it but we’d been short due to illness and injuries. So I felt that the team needed me and I had to be available just in case we needed it. And it just so happened that was the case today.

"I feel like no-one expected it to happen how it happened today. Obviously Jack’s done his best to carry on but unfortunately he couldn’t and that’s what I was there for. It was a good thing.

"Before I came on, the manager (Neill Collins) was just reassuring me that I would be OK.

"He was just giving me the confidence that I needed to push through that pain barrier and he just gave me the motivation and told me what to do.

"He’s a very experienced manager and I trust everything that he says.”

It was David’s first experience of playing in a Fife derby and the noise and colour generated by the 5,542 supporters inside the stadium made it a stand out match for him.

He added: “Right from the minute we walked out the tunnel I could see the difference from at other league games to this particular game.

"With the flares and all the fans who had turned up, you could feel the atmosphere was great.

"It’s funny that it’s my first goal but I’m glad that it’s come at this time.

"It was very nice. I wanted to celebrate but the lads were all on top of me so I didn’t even get the opportunity to do my celebration!

"It’s also a celebration of what the team have done today and the performance we put in.

"At times the game was mixed in terms of who had control but when I came on I managed to kind of close that and almost confirm the win at that stage.

"It was probably needed at the time.

"It’s what I really needed to push on and now hopefully this can be the start of a nice little run.”

David, a former youth player at English giants Everton, was then asked if Rovers fans were beginning to see the best of him in terms of his physicality and how quickly he moves the ball.

He replied: “I feel that’s a big part of my game when the ball’s at my feet and defenders feel they can get to it.

"I’m glad that I’m showing everyone what I can do, all the little aspects of the game that you don’t really tend to see often.

“I’m enjoying myself at Raith. The club’s got everything that a player needs, there’s nothing missing.

"The fans really showed out today, right from the first minute to the last and we really appreciate their support.”

If selected, David’s next chance to impress in a Raith shirt will come in the away league game against Queen’s Park – currently seven points ahead of Raith – at Hampden this Friday, kick-off 7.45pm.

He said: “I’m looking forward to it. The points from today give us a good boost.

"We had been on the same number of points as a couple of other teams but getting the three points has given us the little boost that we needed.”