John McGlynn admits there is a battle to even make the Raith Rovers match-day squad amid fierce competition for places at Stark’s Park.
Left-back Liam Dick has returned to full training this week after missing Rovers’ last two fixtures; a gutsy draw at Queen of the South and a fine 3-0 victory against Hamilton.
However, McGlynn confesses that the form of Frankie Musonda has made Dick’s return to the starting line-up anything but a formality.
“Frankie got a little opportunity to come in,” said McGlynn.
“He is a versatile player — can operate across the defence — and the idea was to give him a shot as a defensive midfield player.
“But such was the length of time he was out, we now have that covered.
“However, a chance at left-back has come out the blue with the injury to Liam Dick.
“Liam has trained Monday and Tuesday and it has given Paul [Smith, assistant] and myself a bit of a headache, in terms of picking the starting 11 and picking the bench.
“You don’t want too many defenders on the bench.”
Full house
Dick’s position echoes the predicaments of Ross Matthews and club captain Kyle Benedictus, both of whom were among the substitutes against Accies after slipping out of the side due to suspension and injury, respectively.
“We have a full compliment and, as we speak, the only person we are missing is Lewis Vaughan,” McGlynn told Courier Sport.
“It’s unfortunate for Ross Matthews that a suspension allowed Ethan Ross to come in to the side, and Ethan has taken grip of his position in the team.
3️⃣ goals, 3️⃣ points, and the @RaithRovers run continues!
We weren't able to have our normal setup yesterday but we have still managed to put together videos from yesterday's match.
Our YT channel has a highlights package and John's post match thoughts 👇https://t.co/3rhla4HULF pic.twitter.com/RIEqARJNNO
— RaithTV (@RaithTV) November 14, 2021
“We knew when Bene [Benedictus] came back from injury, we would have a defensive decision to make but Tom Lang has done tremendously well.
“How can I say to someone ‘train well and you’ll get your chance’, and then when he does great, take that jersey away from him?
“That’s not what we do here; that’s not the structure.
“It’s their jersey to lose now, whether it’s through suspension, loss of form or a change in shape.”
