The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Rovers duo big doubts for East Fife derby
Murray and Wedderburn suffer injuries ahead of much-anticipated Stark’s Park clash
Tuesday night’s Irn-Bru Cup win over Aberdeen’s Under-21 side looks to have come at a cost for Raith Rovers with two key players suffering injuries that could rule them out of tomorrow’s League 1 derby with East Fife.
Rovers won 3-1 against the young Dons but midfielder Nat Wedderburn and defender Euan Murray picked up leg knocks that were considered so severe by the club’s medical staff they warranted closer inspection by X-ray.
The Kirkcaldy side have now been drawn away to Ross County in the second round of the competition but at the moment Stark’s Park boss Barry Smith is more concerned with trying to secure three league points with his tight squad constricted once more by injury and suspension.
Smith said: “Nat Wedderburn and Euan Murray picked up leg knocks.
“Both were X-rayed and there are no fractures which is a plus but they are doubtful for Saturday.
“Iain Davidson still has one more game to serve of his suspension.
“He was able to play on Tuesday and it was good to get 90 minutes into him.
“Chris Duggan also got game time but he is probably not yet 100% so we will see how he does.”
One player who might come back into contention for a recall is keeper Robbie Thomson.
He picked up a hip injury three weeks ago against Cove Rangers with on-loan Rangers goalie Kieran Wright taking his place between the sticks.
The youngster has played through the pain barrier in the last two matches because of a dislocated finger with Smith paying tribute to Wright’s commitment.
He said: “Kieran has been well protected by the medical staff and his team-mates.
“That’s nearly two weeks since it happened so it is now at the stage where it shouldn’t affect him anyway.
“It is good to see a guy coming in on loan and still being prepared to play despite the injury.
“It is easy if you have something wrong with you to say: ‘Well actually I would rather look after myself because I am going back to my club’.
“But Kieran has helped us out because we were struggling for a goalkeeper at that point.
“He has put himself on the line – if he made a mistake because of his finger, it is him who gets the blame.
“But I think he has got through the two games because of his commitment to want to play.
Both were X-rayed and there are no fractures which is a plus but they are doubtful for Saturday
“Robbie was on the bench on Tuesday so he is very close to being fully fit.”
Smith admitted his new-look squad is still very much a work in progress but he is seeing signs all over the pitch that progress is being made.
He said: “There have been a lot of changes. I think we lost 12 and replaced them with eight. So we are running with a smaller squad.
“Sometimes it takes time to gel with work on the training pitch. But we are certainly seeing bits and pieces. I think the link-up between Liam Buchanan and Kevin Nisbet has been very good.
“But you can see understandings all over the pitch. It is still early stages but we want to keep progressing and getting better as a team.
“There have been a lot of good signs in the last two games and we have played some very good football.
“There are signs we are heading in the right direction.”
Smith is hoping that continues tomorrow against East Fife.
He said: “Derby games are good ones to be involved in. The players all want to play in them so it is a good game to win.
“We have a good home record and we want that to continue but it comes down to how hard the players work to maintain that.
“It is good to be in front of your home fans and get that support from them – hopefully we will have that again on Saturday.”