Raith Rovers' Zak Delaney remembers 'toughest time of his career' ahead of Arbroath reunion
Having impressed greatly in Raith Rovers’ defence since joining on a two-year contract this summer after leaving Greenock Morton, Zak Delaney is all set to face another of his former clubs – Arbroath – at Stark’s Park in the William Hill Championship this Saturday.
But the 24-year-old Irishman – who has played nine times for Raith in league and cup this term – told the Fife Free Press that his injury-ravaged spell with the Red Lichties in the first half of 2024 represented the toughest period of his career so far, having just been released by Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Dublin-born Delaney, whose third-placed Raith side have 10 points from five matches ahead of taking on the fourth-placed Gayfield outfit who are just two points behind, said: “I kind of got pushed out of Inverness by Dunc (then Caley Jags boss Duncan Ferguson) and then went to Arbroath. They were great people.
"But unfortunately, in the first five minutes of my first game I got quite a bad injury.
"I did my ankle quite bad and I was out for 10 or 11 weeks.
"And then when I came back, I think I maybe played nine games, but I wasn't really myself to be honest with you.
"I couldn't quite get back to how I was feeling and I was struggling a little bit.
"So that was probably the toughest time in my career so far, I would say.
"I still know a few of the lads there. Obviously, I know the two boys in the dugout (Arbroath co-managers David Gold and Colin Hamilton) quite well.
"I know what they're like, and what they like to do. Obviously, you see the success they had last year, they are two good managers.
"We know it's going to be tough, and they've started well as well.
"I think they're sitting fourth now or something, aren't they?
"No game's going to be an easy game, but especially when it's someone that's right behind you in fourth place.”
Delaney was then asked about Raith’s impressive start to the season – which continued with a 2-0 league win at Inverness last weekend – and the fact he is keeping veteran left-back Lewis Stevenson out of the side.
He added: “Inverness is a really, really tough away place to go.
“I don't think they’d lost in 20-odd games at home or something crazy (Inverness hadn’t lost a competitive home fixture for over a year covering 22 matches), so to get a win up there was massive and just gives us the confidence now to come back home and hopefully put on a good performance.
"Getting into the play-offs this season is something we're all striving to do.
"I think if you asked maybe any team in the league, they'd probably say the same thing, wouldn't they? Trying to get in that top four.
"But we're not going to get too far ahead of ourselves. We're in a good spot now, we've started well, but we all know it can blow up in your face or you can keep going on the run. It's a rollercoaster this season, isn't it?
"So we just need to stay level-headed and see where it takes us.
"I think knowing that Lewis Stevenson is waiting to come in for me if I lose form is keeping me on my toes.
"He's a top professional, top guy, and I actually think he's really helped me since I've come in.
"A lot of the older lads, him, Paul Hanlon and Callum Fordyce, have given me bits of advice and they've been really helpful with me.”
Looking back at a rare disappointment for Rovers this season, the 1-0 Fife derby defeat at Dunfermline athletic in the league on August 28, Delaney said: “Obviously, there's been disappointment with the derby. I don't think we played to our best.
"We definitely could have got maybe a draw as a fair result, but stuff happens. It's important that we bounced back and we did.”