The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Cruel end to last season all the incentive Rovers need
Missing out keeps Raith star focused on promotion push
Ross Matthews insists last season’s cruel climax to the title race is all the proof Raith Rovers need to ensure they must stay focused on catching league leaders Arbroath.
The Kirkcaldy outfit travel east along the coast to Methil this afternoon for a crucial derby clash with East Fife.
The Stark’s Park outfit currently sit four points ahead of their Bayview neighbours in third and seven points adrift of top-of-the-table Arbroath, who are undefeated on league duty this term and have won an incredible nine of their opening 12 games.
Raith slipped up away to Forfar a fortnight ago but bounced back to defeat Brechin City last weekend, and Matthews is aware just how important today’s meeting with East Fife is.
After a campaign that saw both share top spot, Rovers were pipped to the League One title by Ayr United on the final day of last season and John McGlynn’s side are desperate to stay in touch at the top again this time round.
Matthews said: “The main thing going into last weekend was to win it. We obviously wanted to play well but the main thing was getting the result and thankfully we managed to do that.
“We do analysis on every game and we’ve spent all week looking over it. We realise there’s a lot of things we can improve on but there was also a lot of good stuff.
“We learned last season that there can be so many twists and turns over the course of the season.
“I’m sure that will happen again. “Arbroath are on a brilliant run and if they keep that run up then fair play to them.
“But we’ve got to be ready for them to slip up and we have to concentrate on ourselves to be ready for that moment.
“This will be a hard game. East Fife are a good team, we saw that when we played them at Stark’s Park earlier in the season.
“They gave us a very good game in that 2-2 draw, but I think we’ve improved since then and hopefully we can play better than we did that day.
“We see every game as winnable, so we’re going into it to win and hopefully we can do that and put some more pressure on Arbroath.”
Striker Kevin Nisbet has been Raith’s talisman so far this term, with the former Partick Thistle marksman picking up the player of the month award for October thanks to his blistering form.
The 21-year-old avoided the usual jinx associated with such accolades to grab both goals last weekend to take his tally to 17 goals from 18 appearances.
Matthews admits the summer signing has been a very welcome addition to the Stark’s Park squad this season.
The midfielder said: “He can’t stop scoring at the moment. Literally everything just seems to fall for him. But he works so hard that he deserves it.”