Raith Rovers: Most recent signing Esmael Goncalves reveals why he joined Kirkcaldy club

On February 11, Goncalves, 31, joined Ian Murray’s team on loan until the end of the season from Premiership outfit Livingston, with the Guinea-Bissau-born forward making an immediate impact by coming on as a substitute and scoring the third goal in that day’s 3-1 home Scottish Cup fifth round encounter against top flight Motherwell.

"I was really excited to sign and after a start like that I got more excited,” Goncalves told Raith TV.

“I’m really happy to be here and see what we can achieve.

“I spoke with Christophe Berra (currently a first team coach at Livingston who retired from playing last summer after spending over a year at Raith) and he told me that the team here really plays good football.

"And I wanted to go to a team that plays my style of football.

"I saw exactly what Berra said was true in the game against Motherwell. The passing in the first half, long, short, was really amazing.

"The manager had told me I was going to be on the bench against Motherwell but he wanted to give me some minutes.

"The team did amazing in defence and midfield because if Motherwell had scored again (after the score had been brought back to 2-1 for Rovers) it would have been really messy.

"I appreciate the love I felt from the Raith Rovers fans during the game and afterwards. I am very thankful.”