Raith Rovers have received a welcome pick-me-up with the news Sam Stanton is nearing a comeback and could return to the squad for Friday’s clash with Airdrie.
The midfielder has proved a talismanic figure for the Stark’s Park side this season but has been sidelined by a knee injury since a few days before Christmas.
He limped out of the 4-4 draw with Ayr United on December 22 after just 36 minutes.
But he had still had time to net his sixth goal of the season and his fourth in seven games.
Rovers have won just once in his absence and succumbed to a fourth straight defeat with the weekend’s 3-2 loss to Inverness Caley Thistle.
Stanton was on the pitch on Saturday being put through his paces before the visit of the Highlanders and he is expected to step up his recovery this week.
If all goes well then the former Dundee United and Hibernian player could even make it into the Raith squad for Friday’s SPFL Trust Trophy semi-final against Aidrie.
Boss Ian Murray said: “Sam’s doing well, he’s doing really, really well.
“His rehab is going pretty much to the letter at the moment, touch wood.
Comeback date
“He will possibly be back with us and getting a getting a touch of the ball with us this week.
“And then we’ll look to maybe involve him on the bench on Friday if he’s alright.
“If not, then I’m really, really confident he’ll be ready for the next game.
“It might just be a couple of days too soon on Friday, or stupid to risk him when we’ve got other players.
“Kyle [Turner] has obviously come in, which happened after Sam’s injury.
“But, certainly, Sam is progressing really well.
“He’s a really quick healer and by the time he’s back it will probably be six weeks.
“That sounds like quite a long time but for the injury – or the potential injury – he had it’s really, really short.”
Meanwhile, Murray admits Raith will have to improve drastically from their last meeting with Airdrie if they are to arrest their worrying losing streak.
Their current run of four straight defeats kicked off with a 1-0 reverse away to Airdrie on January 6.
Bogey team
It was the first time in 17 games the Stark’s Park outfit had failed to score in a game.
And that was in the defeat against the same team with the identical scoreline.
Rovers have taken just one point from a possible nine against the Diamonds in the league this season.
And, with just one goal in those three games, they have clearly struggled to break down Rhys McCabe’s well-drilled outfit.
Defeats since, against Queen’s Park, Livingston and Inverness, have indicated the current travails are more deep-rooted than having a ‘bogey team’.
But, given they are next up, Murray has acknowledged he has work to do to find a specific solution versus his old club against the backdrop of a wider sticky spell.
He added: “We deserved to lose at Airdrie, because we didn’t play well and we didn’t create anything and we didn’t trouble them.
“It was just a poor game.
“It’s something we need to look at for Friday’s semi-final.”
