We all miss the fans says Raith Rovers' Reghan Tumilty

The 23-year-old (inset), who joined the club in the summer from Morton, says that some of the fun factor is missing from football whilst the ban on supporters attending matches continues.

“It's just not the same at all,” he said. “It has slightly taken away some of the enjoyment.

“It was a bit different at Tynecastle on Tuesday because they had the fake fan noise, but it was still a surreal experience.

“We had to get changed in different places, wear a mask, no showers after the match, things like that, but I suppose it's the new normal.

“Normally at Hearts, it would have been a packed stadium and that would have added a bit more to the game.

“We're just going to have to get used to it.”

Tumilty made his competitive debut for the club in Saturday’s 2-1 Betfred Cup win over East Fife, a game in which he admits it took the team some time to get going.

“We started off slowly,” he said. “I think that’s due to the fans not being there.It did take us a bit of time to get going.

“They sat in and made it difficult for us, especially after scoring the opening goal, so breaking them down was always going to be hard after going behind, but we showed good character to come back and luckily Manny popped up and got us that goal in the end.”

Tumilty himself came close to a first-half goal in the 3-1 defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle on Tuesday in the same competition.

He says it was “an uphill battle” after going behind in the first minute but thinks the team gave a good account of themselves.

“We got more into it and Manny got a great goal. He came off with an injury but I don't think it's too bad.

“I hope not because we need him up there.”

Tumilty is looking forward to his first appearance in the Championship against Arbroath on Saturday.

“We have to get off to a good start with the league going down to just 27 games,” he said. “If we played like we played against Hearts in periods, then I think we'll do quite well, especially at home.”