Gordon Smith has backed his former Hearts team-mates to overcome the odds and avoid relegation but the Raith Rovers striker is eyeing a shock of his own when the teams meet in the Scottish Communities League Cup.
Smith knows all there is to know about the Tynecastle youngsters who are confounding expectations by eating into their 15-point penalty, and is not surprised they have managed to raise hopes of top-flight survival.
The 22-year-old might have been a part of the backs-against-the-wall efforts in Gorgie himself this term but was released by Gary Locke as the Hearts manager sought to reduce the wage bill after going into administration.
Smith holds no grudges and is thrilled to see so many players he came through the ranks with successfully making the grade in the Hearts first-team and cutting their deficit to St Mirren at the bottom of the Premiership to just nine pointswith Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Aberdeen.
Smith, who is joined at Stark’s Park by fellow former Hearts men Jason Thomson, Calum Elliot and Liam Fox, as well as manager Grant Murray and assistant Paul Smith, believes the arrival of his former club will also bring out the best in a Raith team beaten just once in six competitive matches so far this term.
He said: “There’s a few ex-Hearts boys in the team, including Calum, Foxy and Jason, and then obviously the manager, but we’re just looking to win.”
“Hearts is all in the past now, we need to do our best for Raith Rovers. Obviously I still speak to a lot of people at Hearts, I’ve got good friends there, people I’m close to, but I’ll be looking to give them a disappointing night on Tuesday.
“I know every single player in that Hearts squad, I grew up with a lot of them, played in youth teams with them, and I know everything about them. But it’s just about going out there and doing what we can do, and not worrying about them.
“I’m not really surprised at the way the start of the season has gone for them because, for other people, there’s a wee bit of the unknown about them.
“The players they’re coming up against will not really know how they play, but they’re all very fit and fast, and Gary Locke’s a good coach and he’ll have them up for every game. If they can get a wee run going, which they’re on at the moment, then I think they’ll be fine in the league and they can avoid relegation.
“They’re doing well at Tynecastle and it’s always brilliant when you go away from home and you’ve got more away fans there than home fans.
“People say they can be the 12th man and that’s right. The boys will love that, the support they’re getting, and it can only be good for them.
“A big crowd can help us as well, though. We’ll all be up for it, 100%, and the more fans that are there the better.
“Often, the better the atmosphere the better you play. Sometimes it’s hard when the ground is quiet and there’s not much of an atmosphere, but if it’s a full house the boys will be buzzing.
“Can we pull off a shock? Why not? We’ve got a strong squad here, we’re a good group of boys on and off the field, we all work hard for each other. We can upset anyone if we play well, and we’ll be looking to do that on Tuesday.”