'The defence and strikers were great' - Raith ace Sam Stanton hails display in win over Cove Rangers

Former Hibs and Dundee United midfielder Stanton, 28, scored the clinching third goal after earlier strikes by Aidan Connolly and Jamie Gullan.

“It was great,” Stanton told Raith TV. “A big three points, three points we needed badly, especially after the last couple of results.

"We spoke last week about being more ruthless. I think we definitely were at both ends of the pitch.

"Games are won in the box and we showed that today. The defence was great and the boys going forward were great.

"Winning the ball back was good and we managed to do it high up the pitch.

"The game could have been out of sight in the first half. There’s still always more to work on as well.

"I enjoy the licence to go forward, try and create things and try and get goals and that’s what I managed to do today.”

Saturday’s win saw Raith fans vote Stanton their man-of-the-match for a third consecutive game.

The player said: “I’m always looking to improve and get better. It’s nice to be in a good bit of form at the moment and I want to keep that going.

"There’s good competition for places now. We’ve got a lot of boys coming back from injuries, guys that we’ve missed at the start of the season that have come back.

"So it’s good to have such strength again.”