Raith Rovers have been handed a triple injury boost – with forgotten man Ross Matthews closing in on a comeback after over a YEAR on the sidelines.
Matthews has not featured in a competitive first-team match since November 5 last year.
And he has not started a league or cup game since April 2022.
A troublesome toe injury proved persistent and painful, and a summer comeback had to be aborted during pre-season because of an ankle tendon tear.
But the 27-year-old is well on the road to recovery and could be in the squad for Friday’s SPFL Championship clash with Partick Thistle.
Manager Ian Murray said: “Ross Matthews has trained all week, which is really, really positive.
“We’ll possibly see him on Friday night in the squad, which would be amazing.”
It is a massive match for Raith, who will leapfrog leaders Dundee United and go top of the table – at least temporarily – with a victory.
In a further fillip for the Stark’s Park men, they are set to welcome three players back to the line-up that earned a dramatic injury-time victory over Inverness Caley Thistle on Saturday.
Declared fit
Full-back Ross Millen is back after suspension, whilst skipper Scott Brown (hip) and defender Euan Murray (shoulder) are both set to be declared fit.
Boss Murray added: “We’re not too bad, we had 18 training on Wednesday, which is really, really good.
“We’re quite happy. We’ve got no knocks now from the weekend, although we had a couple of dead legs at the start of the week.
“Ross Millen was suspended (against Inverness) so he’s fine and it gave him a little bit of a rest as well.
“Scott Brown has trained this week as well, which is great. He had a wee tweak in his hip flexor last week.
Check
“But we’ll have to wait until Thursday to see how he’s feeling.
“Euan Murray has done a little bit on Wednesday and we’ll check him again on Thursday.
“He was doing some extra work on his own last week and hurt his shoulder.
“He’s been playing with an issue in there, nothing major, but the positive thing is he’s moving really well and feeling a lot better.
“So, hopefully on Thursday we’ll have a full squad of 19 players training, which is brilliant.”
