Raith Rovers: Striker to miss cup final after international call-up

The forward, who is on loan from Ross County, has been selected ahead of South Sudan playing away to Congo in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier later today (Thursday), before hosting the same opposition next Monday, March 27.

“William got called up late last week,” Raith manager Ian Murray told the Fife Free Press. “We got the letter in from the FA so we have to let him go.

“It’s not ideal for us but we’ve dealt with these things already.

“We’re probably in better nick than we thought we would be because Kieran Ngwenya has returned early from his camp and he was meant to be away.

“Conor McBride, Aidan Connolly and Ross Millen are back in training and we didn’t expect Ross to be back at all and he’s looking good.

“We’re actually in decent shape, we’re going into the final with the strongest squad we’ve had in a while.

“We would have loved to have William available but Isma has been in good form and we’ve got Lewis Vaughan and Ethan Ross is back and Dylan Easton is scoring goals and Sam Stanton can play in any position.

“In those areas of the park we’re actually in decent shape.”

Looking ahead to this weekend’s final at the Falkirk Stadium, kick-off 4.15pm, Murray was asked if he was treating the match any differently to league fixtures.

“It is different because we have an extra day, that’s the biggest thing,” he said.

“We’re quite happy about that, it gives us some extra recovery time, a couple of boys who missed out last week have an extra day to be ready.

“It’s about filling that void for the players because they’ll be excited and we don’t want them wasting that energy.

“We’ve come here to train and it’s good to get a look at the pitch, even though a lot of players have played here before.

“It’s better to come here beforehand rather than walk in blind.

“The players met after training on Wednesday to have some food which builds camaraderie.”