We're focused on keeping our cup, says Raith Rovers' Reghan Tumilty

Reghan Tumilty at Stark's Park with the SPFL Trust Trophy. Pic: (Fife Photo Agency)Reghan Tumilty at Stark's Park with the SPFL Trust Trophy. Pic: (Fife Photo Agency)
Reghan Tumilty at Stark's Park with the SPFL Trust Trophy. Pic: (Fife Photo Agency)
Reghan Tumilty insists that Raith Rovers are taking Sunday’s SPFL Trust Trophy Final seriously and are desperate to win.

The club is currently fighting hard to claim a play-off place in the Championship with only five games to go, but the right back says that the league campaign won’t be a distraction as they head to Airdrie’s Excelsior Stadium this Sunday to play Queen of the South in the final.

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"The manager here is taking it very seriously and giving 100 per cent.

"It was our first training session today [Tuesday] but it was lively and I think there's competition for places.

The Rovers right back is backing the club to retain the trophy. (Pic: © Craig Watson)The Rovers right back is backing the club to retain the trophy. (Pic: © Craig Watson)
The Rovers right back is backing the club to retain the trophy. (Pic: © Craig Watson)

"Everyone wants to play in this one game and only 11 people can start.

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"Training is going to be good and the competition is going to be high.

"We've done well in this competition.

"If we can hopefully put on a good performance in and win it can help us for the last five league games. I think at this stage we are needing momentum for the league.

"Personally, I've not won anything before. Well, a reserve league [with Ross County] but that doesn't count professionally, so it's exciting.

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"I'm hearing there's over 2000 Rovers tickets sold so there's still time to get more fans at the game.

"There should be a good atmosphere."

The 25-year-old say there is extra incentive to take the trophy after the club were denied the opportunity to do so when it made the final in the 2019/20 season but were unable to play the match due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The competition itself wasn’t played last season.

"I was gutted that we couldn't play that game [against Inverness],” he says, “I was looking forward to that.

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"It's a final and a chance to win a trophy. We were joint winners but no-one got anything for it. I didn't get a medal for it.

"We want to make up for that this season and try and win this.

"We want to keep the trophy, put a good performance on and kick on in the league.

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"The club put a video up from when they beat Rangers a few years ago. That was a big day and it means a lot to fans, going out, being together and getting a good result.

"That's what we've got to be with the fans too - together."

McGlynn’s men have performed well in cup competitions this season with Tumilty saying that they are never intimidated when faced with a one-off meeting, regardless of the opposition.

He said: "I don't think we've had any fear.

"We went to Celtic Park, we didn't have any fear and we passed the ball well, albeit the result wasn't great.

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"The performance we put on against Celtic, the top club in Scotland, was brilliant and we take confidence from that.

"We watch it all the time. The manager here loves video analysis so we watch that 30 passes or whatever it was we did over and over!

"We know we can do it so we have confidence and we should be confident against Queen of the South.

"I think in a cup final it's just about getting a win.

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"We obviously want to play good football but recently, against Arbroath especially, we've had to battle.

"We've had a depleted squad and we've had to back each other, so that's what we need to do on Sunday and I think we can do it."

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