The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
McGlynn aims to exploit cracks in Lichties’ bid
Raith Rovers manager John McGlynn reckons cracks are starting to appear in Arbroath’s title bid ahead of his side’s “must-win” League One top of the table showdown.
The Lichties have a huge 13-point cushion over Rovers at the summit but McGlynn believes the wheels are starting to fall off following a stuttering run of form.
After winning eight successive league matches before they were beaten at Stark’s Park just before Christmas, Dick Campbell’s side have only won two from their last six outings.
Raith have been ravaged by injuries ahead of tomorrow’s clash but McGlynn is hoping his team can strike another blow to the Angus outfit’s push for silverware.
He said: “I pay massive compliments to Arbroath, the first half of the season was just incredible.
“They have done magnificently well. However, there does seem to be one or two cracks appearing now and it’s up to ourselves to try and take advantage of that.
“Most people outside of Arbroath would be thinking, ‘when is it going to end?’, because they were so good.
“But just before the turn of the year there’s maybe been one or two wee cracks appearing: Forfar beating them a few weeks back, drawing in midweek with Stranraer and we beat them on December 22 – all these things are in recent weeks.
“Is there something beginning to show there, who knows?”
McGlynn is adamant his side must close the gap to 10 points if they are to be in contention for the title.
“Is it must win? Probably, for winning the league,” he added.
“It’s 13 points, we want to get that down to 10. If you look through the other situations, it could be a draw.
“If you lose it’s 16 points with 12 games to go and that would be really difficult.
“We want to win the game and will do everything we can to win the game.
“We want to get it down to 10 points, that’s still a big gap to close but not impossible.”