De Vita hopes to have best of both worlds this time
LEAGUE ONE SEMIFINAL, 2ND LEG EDINBURGH CITY V ELGIN
RAFFA de Vita’s last playoff experience ended in both agony and ecstasy – and he is determined it will be all pleasure and no pain this time round with Edinburgh City.
The 33-year-old was part of the Livingston side that stormed its way to back-toback promotions to reach the Premiership in 2018.
But the Italian had to sit out their sensational triumph over Partick Thistle in the final after rupturing his knee ligaments in the second eg of the semi-final against Dundee United.
The former Blackburn Rovers and Swindon Town striker was devastated to miss out on the celebrations and is desperate to be in the thick of it as City go all out to reach League One.
He said: “In 2018 with Livingston, I did my cruciate ligament in the second-leg of the Dundee United game, so I missed the party game.
“I found out about the extent of the injury the day we played Partick in the final, but it helped me to think that if we got to the Premier I had something to look forward to.
“It gave me extra motivation for the rehab from the ACL, which is one of the worst ones; it’s a long road.
“That time with Livi, we went in as the underdogs and no-one gave us a chance. We didn’t have too much to lose, because it was a great
achievement just to be there. But with Edinburgh City, we can go in with a lot of confidence and I think we would be really disappointed if we didn’t get right to the end and get promoted.
“If we’re all at it we’ve got a good chance – but all the teams in the play-offs will be thinking the same.”
City are in the driving seat after Saturday’s 1-0 victory away from home against Elgin City, but de Vita has warned against reading too much into that first-leg result.
The on-loan Livi marksman added: “It was a good start but it’s only half-time, if you want to look at it that way. We’re still 90 minutes away and it will be a completely different game.
“In our heads, I think we need to start as if it’s 0-0 and see where that takes us.
“From the last break up until now, we’ve done so well and we need to take confidence into this game – and into the final if we make it there.”