Locke missing nine first-teamers for Irn Bru Cup clash at Station Park

Raith boss Gary Locke will be without up to nine first-team regulars for tomorrow’s Irn Bru Cup tie at Forfar.

Rovers will be down to the bare bones for the trip to Station Park because of a combination of injuries, suspension and even an international call-up with on-loan Rangers player Jordan Thompson away with the Northern Ireland Under-21s.

And Locke admits that his squad, which once again will only contain one fit goalie in new signing Conor Brennan, will be severely tested against Gary Bollan’s side who are currently flying high at the top of League Two.

Locke said: “We’ve got a few injuries. It’s starting to mount up a wee bit. We’ve got a suspension this weekend with Jason Thomson as well . The squad is getting tested now, there’s no doubt about that.

“We’ve got about eight players out, which is a problem for us because we’ve not got a big enough squad to carry a lot of injuries.

“But it’s just the way it goes. We’ll just need to get on with it and hopefully we’ll still have enough in the squad to get a result on Saturday.

“We’ve got the two goalies (Kevin Cuthbert and Aaron Lennox) out, Jason is suspended, Craig Barr, Chris Johnston, Scott Robertson, Jean-Yves M’Voto and Joel Coustrain are all injured.

“One or two are long-term, which isn’t ideal, but a few of them are niggles, so we’re hopeful we’ll get one or two back.”

Locke added: “Conor is the one fit goalie and the other two are struggling. It’s a problem for us, because Kevin has been going on the bench every week but he’s nowhere near fit. But it’s just a problem we’ve got to get on with.

“He’s getting there. He went for another scan but he’s still got a haematoma just above his knee. It is settling down but it’s taking longer than we thought.

“It must have been some whack he took, because he’s got more than a dead leg. He’s got a wee problem with the joint as well, according to the physio.

“We just need to wait until it settles down but I’m hopeful it will do that quickly.”

Rovers have made an unbeaten start to their league campaign and that is a proud record Locke is determined will continue in the cup.

He is fully aware that Raith have great recent memories of the competition after they lifted the trophy in 2014, beating Rangers in the final at Easter Road.

He added: “We want to keep the momentum going but Forfar beat us during pre-season, so we know how difficult a game it’s going to be.

“It’s a cup and any cup competition you go into you want to try to win it if you can. This one’s no different. We know it’s going to be difficult but we’ll be putting out as strong a team as we possibly can to try to win the game.

“Forfar are flying and we don’t need any warning because we went there in pre-season and they beat us 2-0.

“So, the boys are well aware of how difficult this game’s going to be and if we’re not at it, we’ll cause ourselves a problem.

“You see the photographs of the team that won the Ramsdens Cup and the success they brought to the club, and the smiles they put on everybody’s faces.

“It’s a good competition and one we’re looking forward to being involved in, and hopefully we can have a good run in it.”

Jason Thomson is suspended.