Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

What Raith Rovers’ cup campaign tells us about their upcoming Scottish Championship season

Sam Stanton concedes a penalty against Aberdeen with a foul on Bojan Miovski. Image: Craig Foy / SNS Group.
Raith Rovers' Sam Stanton conceded an early penalty versus Aberdeen. Image: Craig Foy / SNS Group.

Raith Rovers need more players. That is the biggest issue facing the club going into the 2022/23 Scottish Championship season.

Shortly after being announced as manager Ian Murray signed up Dylan Easton, Scott Brown and Ross Millen – all solid additions.

Since then no players have been added, with Murray listing a number of reasons over the weeks for why this is the case.

Covid scuppered one potential signing, while many other clubs have found the early start forced by the Premier Sports Cup troublesome.

Several clubs have struggled to put a full match squad together – not least Peterhead who named just one substitute for their visit to Stark’s Park.

There have also been many clubs returning later, while Brexit and the scheduling of the World Cup are making English clubs more reluctant to loan players out.

Scott Brown curtailed

Raith defended well for the most part in their first three matches, though they did present both Stirling Albion and Dumbarton with great opportunities to score.

At Pittodrie, Rovers had decent spells but were exposed defensively – albeit against what could be the makings of a tasty Aberdeen side.

Ross McCrorie’s strike made it 3-0 to Aberdeen.

It is obvious to point out that reinforcements are needed at the back – especially after Brown finished one match alongside Sam Stanton in defence.

But the most glaring knock-on effect of this has been the use of Scott Brown.

This has nothing to do with the ability of the self-described box-to-box midfielder, but more the attributes he would bring to the Raith midfield.

More firepower

In Sunday’s defeat to Aberdeen, for instance, Brown would have been much more useful than in defence – where he has played in all four matches.

He is well-rounded, explaining his versatility, but is as adept at winning the ball as he is at progressing it or arriving late to score.

Sunday’s 3-0 defeat ensured their exit from the Premier Sports Cup but it was the matches before where Rovers blew their opportunity to progress.

Kieran Mitchell deputised well for the suspended Dario Zanatta versus Peterhead but beyond him there is again a lack of options.

Jamie Gullan drops deep and links well with his teammates but for Murray’s 4-1-3-2 formation he requires more options through the middle.

Promising signs

There have certainly been some reasons to be optimistic going into the league season, including the manager’s game plan.

The way they attack and their short-corner routines show things are being drilled into the players on the training field.

Dylan Easton was the star man versus Peterhead.

There are also four long-term absentees due to start making their return in the coming months.

The longer the wait for new recruits goes on, however, the more of an uphill task their Scottish Championship campaign will be.

Conversation