Raith Rovers star Dylan Easton ‘couldn’t move’ as back spasm struck again
Raith Rovers winger Dylan Easton has revealed that the recurrence of a long standing back spasm problem left him ‘unable to move’ after seizing up in the dressing room at half-time in the recent 4-2 home defeat to East Kilbride in the Premier Sports Cup.
Despite dealing with the back issue, Easton, 31, netted five times in four league cup group games as Raith exited the tournament by finishing six points behind section winners St Johnstone.
“It's kind of been bothering me for the last couple of years,” he told the Fife Free Press. “Obviously, I'd done it a while back at Airdrie, and then it came back again.
"And I got some injections, epidurals and stuff, which sort of helped it. And then last season it was coming and going, but I could manage it.
"And then this season, five, ten minutes into the East Kilbride game, I just went to change direction and felt the full thing going. But the kind of player I am, I didn't want to go off. I tried to run it off.
"I tried to give myself the best chance and I probably made it a little bit worse. I had to come off half-time. I just couldn't move, I seized up.
"And then I'd had the rest in the week before the St Johnstone game (a 3-1 Raith defeat at McDiarmid Park on July 22). I hadn't trained, just joined in the day before the game.
"Full credit to the manager (Barry Robson). He's got a lot of faith in me and believes in my ability. He threw me straight in and said to me that I'm a match winner and stuff.
“It was just gutting that we couldn't get a result at St Johnstone.
"And maybe other than that five-minute period against East Kilbride, we could have been through. But it's kind of done now.”
As well as the defeats to East Kilbride and St Johnstone, Raith’s Premier Sports Cup campaign included a pair of 5-1 victories – away to Elgin City and at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, in what was a topsy-turvy campaign.
Easton said: “We got off to a really good start up at Elgin, got a really good win, probably could have won by a lot more goals as well.
"And then in the East Kilbride game, I think we kind of shot ourselves in the foot without playing at our best. I don't think we were great at all, to be honest, but we should have been five, six up at half-time.
"We had three or four one-on-ones, hit the post, hit the bar and then I don't think they even had a shot until their first goal.
"And then to be in a position where you are 2-1 up and lose three goals in the space of five minutes was disappointing. Me coming off at half-time injured was also a bit of a pain in the bum.
"We tried to rectify that, against St Johnstone, another really tough game against really good players and I felt we got hard done by.
"I think I should have had a stonewall penalty 15 minutes into it. Last man as well, it was potentially a red card.
"Then they get a little bit of momentum going 1-0 up, we're trying to chase it and just fell short.
"Then we blew Inverness away. No disrespect to Inverness, because they're a good side with loads of good players, but I think it could have been seven or eight if we had taken our chances.”