The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Raith keeper hoping to catch Hearts on the hop
Thomson says Jambos new boys may take time to settle
Robbie Thomson hopes the boot will be on the other foot this afternoon as Raith Rovers look to keep their Betfred Cup hopes alive with an upset against Hearts.
The Kirkcaldy outfit kicked off their competitive season with a shock 2-0 defeat to Fife rivals Cowdenbeath last weekend and have had a week to stew over that bitter disappointment.
With just 14 fit players against the Blue Brazil – the same number Hearts have added to their squad this summer – Thomson is fully aware Rovers are likely to be up against it today.
The 25-year-old keeper, who in February 2015 conceded an embarrassing 10 goals playing for Cowdenbeath against the Jam Tarts, believes there have already been enough surprises in the cup so far to give the
Stark’s Park men hope.
With Hamilton losing to Annan and St Mirren only drawing with Spartans, Thomson said: “It’s good to come up against a Premiership team, it’s good to test yourselves out. But we’re under no illusions it’s going to be tough.
“We’ll need to be at our best to cause them problems.
“They’ve got a lot of resources and they’ve managed to recruit pretty well this summer.
“But that could also work in our favour. With a lot of new players coming into the club it could take them a while to settle down. Hopefully that’s maybe one of the things we can look at.
“There have always been strange results in the cup. If you even look back at this week, there were a couple of Premiership teams not winning when they were expected to.
“We just need to make sure we give as good an account of ourselves as we can, and we know that if we do that we’ve got quality players to go and cause any teams problems.
“When you’re the bigger team coming up against a team from a lower division you always expect a tough game, so we need to make sure we go and deliver that.”
Thomson is determined to keep battling the odds, starting with this afternoon’s clash at East Fife’s Bayview Stadium.
He added: “To start like that was a big disappointment. But the good thing about football is there’s always another game around the corner, so hopefully we can bounce back.
“Yes, the league’s the main thing this season, but the cups are also exciting and it’s good to get a good cup run.
“So, we need to go and try to get some points on the board and hopefully that can start on Saturday.”