The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Full-time status paying off for Rovers: Davidson
Veteran midfielder calls for patience as table-topping Raith head to Cliftonhill
Raith’s Iain Davidson admits being a full-time team is a big factor in the blistering start the club have made to their League 1 campaign.
Rovers are six points clear at the top of the table having won six and drawn one of their seven games so far.
They secured another three points at home against a stuffy Airdrie side last Saturday with the breakthrough finally coming in the 74th minute thanks to a goal by Jason Thomson with Dario Zanatta adding a second to seal the win just before the final whistle.
Davidson admitted that his side had to show patience against the Diamonds but ultimately their full-time fitness told.
Now, he is looking for more of the same when Rovers travel to face Albion Rovers at Cliftonhill today.
Davidson said: “Anybody who plays in football in Scotland will tell you there is a difference being full-time.
“The fitness levels do play a big part towards the end of games. The last 15 or 20 minutes we can play at a pace which the part-time teams can’t.
“That’s because they don’t train as much – that’s just a fact.
“Being full-time is a big thing and we have to try to use that to our advantage.
“Hopefully teams might tire against us if they have been sitting in and defending a lot. Concentration levels might fall for them as well. So we just have to stick together and keep being patient like last Saturday against Airdrie.
“I was confident it would come and the first goal finally arrived before the second killed the game off.”
Rovers’ front players have been in fantastic form this season, netting 21 goals in their seven league matches so far.
However, Davidson insisted that all areas of the team are performing well including a miserly defence that has utilised recognised midfielder Scott Robertson at centre-half following the leg fracture suffered by Kyle Benedictus.
Davidson added: “For me, a squad is all about having a good balance and we seem to have that at the moment.
“The forward players all have goals in them. But like I said, you need that balance and everyone is playing their part. We are keeping clean sheets as well which just shows everybody is doing their bit defensively.
“Fair play to Scott as well. He has adjusted in the two games so far. It is very unnatural for him and he admits he would like to get back to centre-mid the quicker the better!
“But he can only do the best he can and I think he has done really well considering it is something he has never done before.
“But good players can play anywhere and you can see that Robbo has performed at a high level at top clubs.
“I have just been trying to help him through games, talking to him but I think everyone deserves credit just now.”