Raith Rovers look to get back to winning ways in Peterhead

Raith Rovers manager John McGlynn - credit- Fife Photo AgencyRaith Rovers manager John McGlynn - credit- Fife Photo Agency
Raith Rovers manager John McGlynn - credit- Fife Photo Agency
Raith Rovers boss John McGlynn says his side need to get back to winning ways to open a gap at the top of the League One table.

Just two points separate the top three sides in the table, with Rovers top on goal difference on 21 points, the same total as East Fife, ahead of Falkirk on 19 points.

With none of the three sides putting together a winning run of late – Rovers having drawn their last three to extend their unbeaten run to eight – the Stark’s Park boss admits to a level of frustration that his side has not been able to pull away from the pack.

“The draws do eventually kill you,” he said.

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“Hypothetically you could go through this season unbeaten, have 36 draws and get 36 points, and you’d be nearer the bottom than you would the top.

“That’s why going unbeaten doesn’t mean an awful lot if you’re getting draws.

“We were in a good position against Clyde to have taken the three points and against East Fife I believe we deserved to win, so we could have been sitting with a bit of daylight between us and them.

“Over the course of the season we are hoping we are going to get players back to make us stronger.

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“We’re hoping that we’re capable of creating a gap with us at the top of the table and maintaining that right through to the last game of the season.”

With Steven Anderson due to return to the team this weekend, and namesake Grant also hoping to feature, the bad news for Rovers is midfielder Regan Hendry looks set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury in training last Friday.

McGlynn fears the worst describing it as “serious” and rues the midfielder’s luck, the setback coming almost exactly a year since Hendry suffered another knee injury.

“He had a scan and I can’t put a timescale on when we will get the feedback,” he said.

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“It’s not the same knee that he did last year and it’s a different type of injury, however the first indication is that it’s a serious one.

“It’s a blow so we will have to see what the scan reveals and what we will have to do to get him back.”

Saturday’s goal scorer Brad Spencer is also looking to shake off a knee injury of his own as McGlynn takes his side north to face Peterhead this Saturday.

The Aberdeenshire side have found life tough since winning promotion from League Two last season, sitting second bottom of the table, but despite two victories over them already this season with seven goals scored and just one conceded, McGlynn says he’s taking nothing for granted.

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“We’ve played them twice at home, in the Betfred Cup and the league,” he said.

“We won both so no doubt they’ll be smarting from that.

“They’ll want to prove to everyone that they are better than that. We played exceptionally well on both those occasions and we’ll need to do that again.

“We’ve had three really big games recently, Falkirk, Clyde and East Fife. We’ve drawn all three so if we want to now kick on from this position we need to go to places like Peterhead and win.”

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