Raith boss Ray McKinnon has been dealt a big blow with the news that former Scotland midfielder Scott Roberston is set to miss the next four weeks because of injury.
The 30-year-old has not played for Rovers since the game at the start of this month against Rangers because of a groin problem.
Now, a scan has confirmed Robertson has a tear and is set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines a development that has left McKinnon “gutted” as his side attempt to cement their place in the fourth promotion play-off spot.
The Stark’s Park boss said: “We’ve had a couple of boys off ill this week.
“And we’ve still got a few injuries to Robbo and people like that.
“I think he’s four weeks away.
“He’s just had a scan and he’s got a wee tear in the abductor muscle in his groin.
“It’s the time of the season when you need people like Robbo. We’ve had to play Tosher (Lewis Toshney) centre mid and we could really do with somebody with Robbo’s good experience, a strong pro.
“It’s just come at the wrong time. I’m gutted, I really am, because we’ve got a lot of big games coming up, so it’s a blow for us.
“However, Iain Davidson’s coming back from his head knock.
“He took part in full training on Tuesday and he should be fine for Saturday. It’s good to have him back.”
Raith, of course, face another crunch game at home tomorrow against Hibs.
The Easter Road outfit put last weekend’s League Cup Final disappointment behind them on Wednesday night by beating Inverness to progress through to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.
McKinnon’s men have played and lost four times against Alan Stubbs’ side this season but the Raith boss insists his team have not got what they deserved out of the games.
He added: “I think Hibs will be delighted they’re in a semi-final, with a chance of winning the Scottish Cup that they’ve not won for over 100 years.
“They’ll be buoyant.
“They’ve got a massive squad and they’ll probably rotate it on Saturday they’ve got an unbelievable squad.
“Playing midweek will make no difference to them.
“We’ve played really well against them and not got what we deserved. Hopefully that will change on Saturday.”
Hibs’ on-loan Celtic striker Anthony Stokes ended a run of seven games without a goal for the Edinburgh side by netting a brace against Inverness but McKinnon insists his players cannot just focus on one player.
He said: “They’ve got tons of good strikers there, all capable of causing damage, so I’m not worried that Stokes is scoring goals.
“Whoever plays on Saturday, the boys will just need to take care of them and deal with them.”
Meanwhile, McKinnon is sweating over whether on-loan Rangers striker Ryan Hardie will stay with Raith until the end of the season.
Ibrox boss Mark Warburton confirmed at the start of this month that the player would be seeing out the campaign at Stark’s.
However, Hardie’s initial one-month deal is up today with McKinnon saying: “The understanding was that we would get him for the rest of the season but it’s still not done. Fingers crossed we get something tied up.”