James Craigen reckons that Saturday’s 2-2 Championship draw with Falkirk proved that Raith Rovers have the squad to go up.
Rovers extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches against one of their potential play-off opponents, despite making five changes to the side that defeated Dumbarton last week.
“We’ve got a strong squad,” Craigen said.
“Look at the bench we had – guys like Lewis Toshney and Ross Callachan getting a rest – and the players who came in were brilliant.
“Everyone is making a good impact and spurring each other on.
“We’ve got potentially six games in the play-offs so we’ll need 17 or 18 players.”
Craigen played the first hour of Saturday’s match but, having signed a pre-contract with the Bairns, the midfielder is unsure whether he will feature against his future employers in the play-offs.
“It’s up to the manager,” Craigen said. “I’m sure he’ll be putting out the best team who he thinks can go and beat Falkirk.
“We’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.
“A couple of the Falkirk boys were winding me up in the tunnel but I’d be doing the same if it was one of them.
“It’s part and parcel and you just get on with it. It’s a good laugh.”
Falkirk were given a boost before kick-off in the race for second place after Hibs dropped two points in a goalless draw with Morton at Cappielow.
However, Raith were keen to lay down a marker ahead of the play-offs, and they struck first blood in the eighth minute through Joel Thomas.
The striker saw his close-range header saved by Danny Rogers but was quickest to react to the rebound, poking the ball into the far corner of the net.
It was to be the Frenchman’s last act as he was replaced by Ryan Hardie after picking up a hamstring strain.
Raith were the dominant side in the first half and they should have doubled their lead on the half-hour mark when the ball broke to Hardie in space in the box, but the teenager was unable to beat Rogers with two attempts.
Falkirk almost levelled on the stroke of half-time but, with an empty net in front of him, a stretching Lee Miller couldn’t convert Craig Sibbald’s ball to the back post.
The visitors made a strong start to the second half and equalised on 55 minutes when Sibbald broke free in the box and fired an angled drive past Kevin Cuthbert.
Raith hit back to regain the lead in the 70th minute when Hardie pounced on a mistake by Blair Alston to go through, and he coolly rolled the ball past Rogers for his sixth goal since joining on loan from Rangers.
Rovers were denied victory, however, in the 88th minute when Falkirk sub Bob McHugh powered home a header from a Scott Shepherd cross.
Raith boss Ray McKinnon said: “We’re obviously disappointed to lose the late goal, but we can take loads of positives out of the game.
“I’ve constantly changed things up in the last five or six weeks and they keep delivering performances.
“We have nothing to fear from anybody.”