Spencer dares to dream of Premiership place
BRAD SPENCER is convinced Raith Rovers can stay calm in the heat of the play-offs to keep their Premiership dreams alive.
The Stark’s Park side have won widespread praise for the attractive style they have adopted in the Championship this season on their way to finishing third in the table.
It was an approach that also saw them lauded when they threatened a Scottish Cup shock against Livingston before going out after extra-time.
They stuck steadfastly to that same passing game-plan to see off rivals Dunfermline in the quarter-finals and set up tonight’s semi-final first-leg against Dundee.
Ironically, it was a less cultured long ball from Spencer that allowed Gozie Ugwu to hammer in Raith’s clinching second goal in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over their rivals.
But, with the stakes even higher against Dundee, Spencer
is confident Rovers will be determined not to deviate from the well-drilled tactics that have given them their shot at promotion.
The 24-year-old, son of former Scotland striker John Spencer, said: “We’re all excited for this game. All the games we’ve had against Dundee this season have been quite even – a win, a loss and a draw.
“Hopefully we can come out of it with a win to take up to Dens Park for the second-leg.
“We’ve had a good year this season and we just want to go out and play our game and build on that.
“The end result, hopefully, is getting to the Premiership.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and jump the gun but, at the same time, we do need to realise that we’ve got the quality that if we play well and play our game we can go and mix it with anybody.
“I think we showed that against Livingston in the Scottish Cup when we took them to extra-time. That showed there’s not much of a gap, if there is a gap.”