Raith Rovers squad stretched thin ahead of Fife derby

Smith will take his side to Central Park to play Cowdenbeath in the last match in g roup A of the Betfred Cup, with the Stark’s Park side hoping that three points will see them finish as one of the four best runnners- up and progress to the second, knock out round.

Speaking after Tuesday night’s 3-3 draw with Inverness in the same competition saw Raith pick up a bonus point after winning 3-2 on penalties, he said he will be forced to make changes ahead of Saturday’s match.

“We're down to the bare bones injury-wise,” he said.

“Iain Davidson has a bad thigh injury. It's so swollen that we can't even get it assessed, so he is going to be out for the foreseeable future.

“I think Kyle Benedictus will be suspended after getting booked tonight, though we will have Dylan Tait back from his suspension.

“We will be forced to make changes and get on with it.”

Smith praised his side as they continued their impressive start to the season in the match against John Robertson’s experienced Championship side and dominated play for large spells.

“I thought beforehand that it would be a very open, attractive game,” he said. “Inverness are very much like us. They play open, expansive football, with good players in their forward areas.

“It certainly turned out that way.

“I felt in the first half that we carried on from Saturday.

"We were playing with a lot of pace and moving the ball about really well and thoroughly deserved our lead.

“Likewise in the second half, I thought Inverness showed their quality and put us on the back foot for 20 to 25 minutes.

“The pleasing thing for me was the last 10 minutes.

"We dug in and had a couple of chances before we got the late goal.

“We were playing against an Inverness side that have been in the Championship for a few years now and always finish at the top end of the table.

“They have a big squad of players. We had a 17-year-old and two 16-year-olds on the bench, so we are very much stretched as a squad.

“We are always disappointed to lose three goals, but I think we showed a bit of everything.

“We showed some great quality in the first half but disappointed during that 20-minute spell when Inverness took control of the game.

"We left ourselves open and were punished.

“We then showed a bit of resilience as a team.

"We were a bit more solid. and in the last 10 minutes. We turned it around again and it was no more than we deserved to get a draw out of the game.”

Smith now wants his side to show that same steel and determination in Saturday’s Betfred Cup clash.

“We have a great team spirit. It goes through the whole squad and, as a team, we managed to drag ourselves back into the Inverness game.

“It's never easy going to Cowdenbeath. Gary Bollan has got a good squad of players there, and it'll be a very tough game, but we're on a good run just now and we want to keep that going.”