'There has to be better game management': Raith Rovers' Dougie Imrie blasts hectic SPFL fixture schedule
Raith Rovers gaffer Dougie Imrie has hit out at a hectic SPFL fixture schedule which has forced his injury-ravaged side to play last Saturday’s 4-0 league win at Arbroath, tonight’s KDM Evolution Trophy last 32 tie at Hamilton Accies and this Friday’s home league fixture against Dunfermline Athletic within just six days.
Imrie told the Fife Free Press: “You'd think somebody with a brain would maybe look at that and go through the games and maybe think: ‘That (the derby v Dunfermline) is going to be a Friday night game because it's always a Friday night game, maybe move that tie or whatever’.
"In my opinion, there's no thought process in players any more. You've got to come back pre-season, league cup starts four weeks before the league.
"You've got to try and build a squad, you've got to try and get players together, you've got to try and get them fit.
"I'm not saying that's why we've got the amount of injuries we've got, but you just look at ourselves, you look at our growth.
"I think there has to be a better game management, certainly for players.
"Dunfermline have had their own troubles in the last couple of weeks with having to play I think it was seven games in 15 days. But they chose to do that because they chose to cancel a game with three players who went on international duty.
"They could have played, they've got 35 players. But that's for Neil (Pars boss Lennon) and Dunfermline to worry about and deal with.
"Certainly, I think if it was myself in that position, I'd rather get the games played than having to maybe go through periods where you've got to play three games in six days or seven games in 15 days because you've got to catch up.
"And Stenny had to play three games in six days against Livingston, Dunfermline and Partick Thistle and played in a swimming pool on the Saturday, when the game shouldn't have taken place. It should have been called off.
"You're asking players to go through that. No disrespect, the pitch is soaked, players are trying to run, their bodies are knackered.
"They're then getting asked to go and play again on Tuesday night against another tough opponent and then get asked to go and play again on Friday against a really tough opponent.”
On Raith’s testing tie at a Hamilton side who are unbeaten in William Hill League One having won 10 and drawn three of their 13 fixtures so far, Imrie added: “Both clubs want to get through. We're the holders of the cup, we want to continue that, we want to keep it. We want to showcase ourselves.
"I said this to the players during the week, last week, leading into the game on Saturday, we've got three really important games, we take one game at a time.
"We're one down. We've got two to go. Hamilton is a tough game.
“They're flying near the top of League One. Obviously, on Saturday, they dropped points and that allowed Ross County to go two points clear, but they've been flying up there all season.”