Kirkcaldy Rugby Club: Blues boss Quintan Sanft hoping to 'ease relegation worries' by seeing off Stirling County this weekend

And Blues head coach Quintan Sanft – whose side have accumulated 25 points from 14 matches to lie seventh and 10 points above bottom-placed Aberdeen and the one relegation spot – has no doubt about the importance of that last victory in the Granite City and the need to back it up with another positive result against eighth-placed Stirling this weekend.

"I think it was a major win up at Aberdeen," Sanft, 46, told the Fife Free Press. "Especially being away and the fact that they were just below us at the time.

"It just gives us that cushion to pretty much stay away from the bottom of the table.

"There's always a worry there that Aberdeen might win all the rest of their games.

"But our focus now is to make sure that we get a good result this weekend against Stirling and leave all the worries to the side.

"The fact they are just below us in the table very much gives the game added significance.

"The two games they've got in hand are against teams near the top of the table so they'll be tough games they need to play.

"So a win against them would give our guys a boost and then - I'm not saying we would relax after that - but the worries could go out the door and we could start to play some open rugby.

"We would be able to enjoy the last three games of the season after that."

Having won four and lost 10 of their league fixtures so far this term, Sanft admitted that it has largely been a struggle for the Beveridge Park side in 2023-24.

There are only three more league fixtures for the Blues after the Stirling fixture, away to Berwick on January 20, before a trip to Falkirk on January 27 and a home game against Peebles on February 17.

The Western Samoan-born head coach added: “It’s been a tough season. The fact that we don’t have a second XV squad this season doesn’t help us because we don’t have the same number of players ready to come through and are relying on guys staying fit for the season.

"There have been a lot of factors behind the second XV ending. Covid didn’t help and fringe players also started to move to other clubs to try and get some game time.

"In past seasons we’ve used nearly 50 players but this season’s been a struggle to get to that number.

"It’s been a major inconvenience. Especially when injuries creep in because that always happens to teams and we’ve had no depth to call upon to bring into the squad.

"Our main focus just now is to try and get the second XV up and running again.

"So it’s credit to the guys that they’ve maintained the fitness levels because that allowed us to keep the same squad.”

On the games remaining after facing Stirling, Sanft added: "Berwick is a tough trip. It's not easy at their home ground so a win against Stirling would just be a bonus.”