The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Cuthbert expecting Montrose to offer stiff test for Rovers
Montrose may be propping up the League One table at the moment but Raith interim boss Kevin Cuthbert is under no illusions about just how tough a game his side will face against Stewart Petrie’s men at home tomorrow.
The Gable Endies won promotion last season but have lost four of their six games so far including last Saturday’s at Dumbarton.
However, Cuthbert, who is set to be interviewed by the club’s directors for the permanent manager’s post vacated by Barry Smith, insists Montrose will be tricky opponents.
The former goalie said: “When you look at Montrose, they have probably been traditionally the lower half of League Two.
“So to go and win the league last season was a fantastic achievement and maybe hasn’t received the recognition it deserves.
“I think it was an unbelievable achievement. They obviously know how to win games, they are organised and they know how to come to places and be difficult.
“The league is so tight that there will be teams dragged into it (at the bottom) but they will probably only be a couple of points from where they want to be.
“So we are certainly not expecting a straightforward game against Montrose. It will be really tough but we have identified areas we think we can exploit against them and hopefully we can do that on Saturday.
“That’s all I am concentrating on at the moment – being in charge for the game against Montrose, and the interview for the manager’s job will take care of itself.”
Cuthbert was keeping his cards close to his chest over some injury doubts but he insisted he has “warriors” ready to play through the pain barrier.
He added: “We have a few boys carrying knocks from Saturday so we will need to keep assessing them.
“But I have warriors in the dressing-room that are ready to run through brick walls so we are hoping they will all be available.”
Those players certainly had a point or two to prove to Cuthbert when they travelled to face Brechin on league business last Saturday after being humiliated 5-0 the previous week in the Irn-Bru Cup by Ross County.
The interim boss was pleased with the endeavour on show in the 1-1 draw with Darren Dods’ side, but he still believed his players should have held on for the victory.
He said: “When you are 1-0 up with five minutes to go you are probably saying it is two points dropped because that’s the sort of game you should be seeing out if you want to achieve anything at the end of the season.
“But we will take the positives from it in terms of the application and workrate that we got from the players then try to improve.
“That’s what we try to do every single week, to add that bit of quality that will either get us that second goal or not switching off at a setpiece.
“But I got everything I was looking for from the players in terms of effort and on another day if we won that game 1-0, it would probably have been the best result of the season based on what had happened the week before against Ross County.”