We need to get back to the real Raith Rovers

Since the defender joined the club last summer, he has never felt the need to question the team’s will to win, but after the 3-1 defeat to Queen of the South, he believes Raith fell short in that department.

“I just felt they wanted it more than us in the second half - and that’s not like us,” Benedictus told the Press.

“Since I’ve been at the club that’s never been the case. We’ve never lowered our standards.

“The game was there for us to win, but it was down to who wanted it more, and they did.

“As soon as the first goal went in, it felt like it took the sting out of us.

‘“It shouldn’t have because we’re not a team like that. We shouldn’t be letting things get to us.

“There were too may individuals out there not playing as a team.

“For the first few games of the season I thought we were brilliant, but it’s back to basics now.

“We need to get back to battling hard, working hard for each other, and being more as a team.

“We are a good team, and we’ll get back to where we were before.

“Hopefully we can do that in the next couple of weeks, and this slump can be nipped in the bud.”

After three consecutive defeats, Benedictus stressed the importance of picking up points in the next two gamnes at home to Dumbarton and away to Morton.

“We just need to make sure it’s a little blip and nothing major,” he said.

“We’re still sitting third so it’s not all doom and gloom, but we need to pick up three points as soon as possible.

“In the first three or four games in the league we were working a lot harder than we are now.

“We need to get on training ground and see why that is, because we can’t become a bad team in a couple of weeks.

“We’ve had a couple of bad results against two good teams who will be up there as well, but last year those are the teams we were beating and we need to get back to that.

“It’s a slump but we need to remember what we did at the start of season, and that we’re a team capable of winning games.”