The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Something has to give as records on line at Stark’s Park
The team with the perfect home league record this season meet the side who have gone more than a calendar year without tasting defeat on the road when Raith play Arbroath at Stark’s Park this afternoon.
Table-topping Rovers have won four out of four in Kirkcaldy so far as they look to bounce straight back up to the Championship.
Barry Smith’s side also had an impressive away win of their own last week when they beat Championship pace-setters St Mirren in Paisley in the Irn-Bru Challenge Cup.
The victory was all the more impressive as Raith were without a host of experienced players through injury.
Three of them should return for today’s game, but Smith is fully aware that Dick Campbell’s Red Lichties pose a stern test.
The Rovers boss said: “It was a very good result last week.
“The young lads who came in did well, but the whole team put in a good performance.
“We actually set up in a way that we felt would help the young boys to give them an extra bit of security and it worked out well.
“It shows the lads are listening to what we are trying to achieve.
“Both teams made changes but you can only beat what is put in front of you and the lads can take confidence from winning against a top Championship side.
“We now return to league business and a really tough game against Arbroath.
“Their away record is an amazing achievement by Dick and his players and they deserve enormous credit,” he said.
“Arbroath have a lot of good, experienced pros who know this league inside out.
“But we are not going into this game with our eyes shut and we are ready for a tough encounter.
“We are at home and if we concentrate on what we do, we can get the right result.”
Raith will be without the injured Aaron Lennox, Kyle Benedictus and Kevin McHattie, but Scott Robertson, Iain Davidson and Liam Buchanan, who missed the St Mirren game, all return to the squad.
Meanwhile, veteran manager Campbell has promised that his awayday experts will “have a go” at Stark’s Park.
He said: “I have a wee problem as Omar Kader is out for the Raith game due to a family commitment, so Gavin Swankie will come back in.
“We had also hoped that Steven Doris would be back around this time but it looks like he is another month away.
“We have a fantastic away record but it will certainly be tested going to the league leaders at home in the last game of the quarter.
“I am a practical guy and it is three points no matter whether you are playing a game home or away.
“My players are very unassuming but we have certainly gone from strength to strength on the road.
“Maybe teams playing at home have a go at us and we are good at picking them off.
“To be fair, I think just about every team in the league has a better away record than their home one.
“So we will definitely have a go at Stark’s Park.”