The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
M’voto takes it one game at a time in ‘crazy’ league
RAITH ROVERS: French defender taken aback by number of Championship shocks
Raith’s Jean-Yves M’voto admits he has been impressed by the standard of football in the Scottish Championship – even although he finds the league crazy at times.
The big Frenchman joined Rovers this summer after a spell with Polish side Zawisza Bydgoszcz.
Prior to that, the 28-year-old had spent much of his career in England playing for the likes of Oldham, Barnsley and Leyton Orient.
M’voto believes the standard in the Scottish game isn’t all that different to what he experienced down south.
However, the centre-half has been taken aback by the ability of sides to upset the odds and pull off shock results.
M’voto, who should be in the Rovers starting line-up at Falkirk this afternoon, said: “We started the season well but the main thing is that we need to be consistent.
“We just need to look game by game and not concentrate on the table and what’s happening.
“After a while, maybe February, we will see where we are but we just need to try to win every game we can.
“Right now, you can see everyone can beat everyone else. Two weeks ago, Queen of the South were top and then they were beaten 5-0 by Morton last Saturday.
“So we just need to keep our feet on the ground and try to win as many games as we can. What I have seen so far, this league is a bit crazy.
“But it is not that different from when I used to play in League One or the Championship in England. Teams like Hibs and Dundee United put the level a bit higher which is good for the league.”
M’voto has formed a solid defensive partnership at Raith with Kyle Benedictus.
He admits he enjoys playing alongside the Dundonian – who recently dyed his hair a shocking blond – even if he is sometimes lost in translation.
M’voto said: “We have a good partnership. He is a good leader and we talk a lot. I am getting to know him better the more I play alongside him so everything is fine so far.
“Sometimes though he talks really quickly and I struggle to understand him. But he is a lovely person and it is great to have him around the place.
“He also likes to change his hair from time to time – it is good for the banter.”
While pleased to help Rovers secure a clean sheet last week against Hibs, M’voto admitted the players were disappointed they could not secure all three points after the Edinburgh side were reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Marvin Bartley.
Now, they are determined to get back to winning ways at Falkirk this afternoon.
He added: “It was good to get a clean sheet last week. All the boys put a shift in and we were quite happy but because they went down to 10 we wanted to win the game.
“Hibs are a good team but we were a bit gutted not to get the three points.
“Falkirk beat us in the first game between us but we are determined to improve on what we did last week.
“We will see what happens but I think all the boys are confident we can get a result. We are looking forward to it.”