We have to believe, says McGlynn ahead of Raith's Celtic cup clash

Rovers will face a Hoops side coming into the match on the back of a recent morale-boosting win over rivals Rangers, followed by a 4-0 win over Motherwell.

Despite being up against the odds before the fifth round tie, televised live on Premier Sports at 4pm, McGlynn says he will go into the match – Raith’s second visit to Parkhead this season – believing his team are capable of causing an upset.

”Celtic are the in-form team in the Premiership just now,” McGlynn says.

“Just a week ago they beat Rangers and then they went out and were very convincing winners against Motherwell.

“I don't think any neutral or Celtic fan is going to give us a hope, but we've got to take inspiration from the likes of Boreham Wood.

“They went and beat Bournemouth in the FA Cup last weekend, though it's not quite the same as going to Celtic Park and winning.

“It's quite a tall order. Celtic have got a very strong squad, they brought in new players during the January window.

“We've a difficult game in prospect, but it's a Scottish Cup tie with 11 v 11.

“If they have a bad day and we have a good day, you just never know.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​”

Raith’s own run of form is the opposite of the Premiership side’s, Saturday’s 0-0 home draw with Hamilton was their eighth league games in a row without a win.

It’s a run of five draws and three losses, with just seven goals scored, three of which came in the draw with Queen of the South – you have to go back to the 1-0 home win over Kilmarnock on December 11 for the last time Raith took three points.

McGlynn admits the bad run is worrying but is backing his team to end it soon.

"Of course I’m concerned, If we have a bad training session I'm concerned. It just depends on what your character is.

"If you didn't care, you wouldn't be bothered, but I do care.

“We won our Scottish Cup tie and the matches haven't all been defeats. We've only had five defeats all season.

“We're in fourth place, we're still in a good position, we've got a lot to play for and that's what we'll do.”

The Stark’s Park boss said he felt Saturday’s draw with Accies was the correct result.

“We had chances and if we take them we win the game, they had chances and if they take them maybe they win the game.

“From that point of view I think it was probably a fair result.

“I thought it was a good game. I thought both teams tried to play in difficult conditions with a swirling wind.

“Hamilton are an improved team and they've brought in some new, young players. They're a team that is trying to play like ourselves.

“I saw good signs from our team. We had some really good passing moves at times and if we had got the end product we might have got a better outcome.

“I've said all along that the teams in the bottom five positions are going to take points from the teams at the top and that was reinforced by Morton going up to Inverness and winning.

“There are no easy games. There were no easy games when we were winning games earlier in the season, every game was tight.”

The draw saw Rovers defender Tom Lang limp off injured in the first half and McGlynn says he expects him to be out for some time, with the early signs less than encouraging.

He said: “He got a scan on Monday so we're having to wait and see what comes of that, but to be honest it's not looking great.”

Despite slipping down the league table, and with fifth place Partick closing ground, McGlynn is adamant that the Championship title is still within Rovers’ sights.

“There's enough points for anything to happen,” he said.

“We just have to play on the fact that until such times there's not enough points for us to win the league, then we can't.

“We have to have belief. We have to keep working and keep believing. We need to stick together.

“We need to get a wee break and go on a run - it's as simple as that.

“There are plenty of games to go, tough games coming up. We've got Killie and Partick soon who are around and about us.

"There's not an awful lot in it.”

He added: “We're not far away. We've just got to hang in there.”