Raith travel to face title rivals full of confidence

LEAGUE ONE: Smith expects his Rovers to be ready for Somerset Park showdown

There has been little separating Raith Rovers and Ayr United this season as the two full-time sides in League 1 have gone toe-to-toe to win the title and automatic promotion back to the Championship.

In the three games so far between them, there has been a win apiece and a draw – the teams can even boast the same amount of victories overall with 17 each.

However, Rovers boss Barry Smith believes the fact his table-topping team have only lost three times in the league all season, compared to six defeats for Ayr, means his players can travel to face the second-placed Honest Men on Saturday with confidence and extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points.

The manager said: “We have had to change our schedules because of the bad weather but we have still been training which is the important thing and the boys have worked hard.

“I think we have been quite fortunate in that we have been able to train the majority of days.

“So we are not going to moan about the weather, we have had good sessions before what is a big game and one that the boys will look forward to.

“We are in a good place at the moment and we want to maintain that on Saturday.

“The games with Ayr have been tight. They’ve won one, we have won one and there has been a draw so there is a lot to play for on Saturday.

“Any game we have played in, the boys have given their all and worked hard.

“The majority of time, the hard work has paid off.”

Smith added: “The boys look forward to every game and they should be playing with confidence because we have seen a lot of good things throughout the season.

“We have won 17 games, which is good at this stage of the season, and only lost three.

“Ayr are also up there as well because they have won a lot of games.

“But I think the fact we have not lost as many as them, the boys will be going into the game with confidence.”

One player whose confidence will be sky high is Willis Furtado who has won the League 1 player of the month award for February.

Smith added: “He has done extremely well since he came into the team.

“He has bought into the way we want to play and what is expected of him on the pitch.

“We always knew he had ability and he has scored goals which have helped us.

“But the rewards for me are recognition for the whole team.

“They have all worked hard to create his chances.

“So for as much as Willis is getting the recognition we always look at these rewards as team ones.”

Twitter: C_nrobertson

Group. Picture: SNS Barry Smith: no reason to moan about the weather as his players have worked hard despite the disrupted schedule.