Liam Dick has backed Raith Rovers to shake off the disappointment of their title showdown and be ready to take advantage of any Dundee United slip-ups.
The Stark’s Park side fell four points behind at the top of the Championship after losing their head-to-head with the league leaders last weekend.
They still have a game in hand, against Airdrie on Tuesday, but know they are now reliant on favours from elsewhere if they are to pull off a shock title triumph.
However, Dick is adamant there will be no hangover from the Tannadice setback as they prepare to host Ayr United seeking to keep up the pressure on their championship rivals.
With United facing a tricky trip to take on Queen’s Park at Hampden, Dick said: “This season, the times we’ve been beaten or had a poor result, we’ve responded really well.
“We had that wee spell around about Christmas time, after we beat Dundee United up there, where we went on a bad run.
“But outside of that we’ve responded quite well.
“We know, obviously, last Saturday was disappointing. It’s natural the boys were disappointed, you’d actually be a bit surprised if you didn’t feel that way.
“But it’s a good group and we know there’s still plenty of football left to play.
‘It’s in their hands’
“Everybody says it, but it’s really tough in this league and teams are all battling for something.
“I’m not saying they will or they won’t, but Dundee United have still got plenty of games to go and they could drop points.
“Right now, it’s in their hands. But if they do drop points, we’ve just got to make sure we take care of ourselves and we give ourselves the best chance.
“At the minute, we’re just looking at the next game and where we can get three points.
“We’re not looking too far ahead to Airdrie, because we know we’ve got to deal with Ayr United at the minute.
“Further down the line, if it does end up being the play-offs, we need to make sure we’re in good form and not dipping.”
Raith had kept three consecutive clean sheets – and four in five games – before being undone twice in the 2-0 loss to United, albeit one was from a hotly-disputed penalty.
And Dick is hopeful that a return to that defensive solidity will give Ian Murray’s side a firm foundation on which to build a late charge for top spot.
“As a team and the gaffer and the staff, we had to look at our defensive record,” added the left-back. “I think we had to make changes and we’ve done it.
“We conceded two against Dundee United. But before that we had been solid and had got a couple of good results.
Dick: ‘Raith have match-winners’
“It’ll need to be the same in the coming weeks, the same work-rate. But we don’t want to lose that attacking flair.
“We’ve got players at the top end of the pitch who can turn it on and win us a game. There’s so many boys in the team who are match-winners.
“But we need to keep it tight at the back so we don’t give ourselves a mountain to climb. Instead we have to give ourselves the chance to score late on to win the games.”
Meanwhile, with so much still to play for, Dick insists he is content to wait to sort out his future.
The 28-year-old, who is currently studying for an Open University degree in sports fitness and coaching, is out of contract this summer but understands why talks are on hold.
“In my mind,” he went on, I wouldn’t even want to talk about contracts at this point. Because we’ve got a big challenge at hand and you don’t want your head to be anywhere else.
“Regardless of whether you’re going to be at Raith or wherever you end up, you want to finish the season on a high.
“I can’t change anything at the minute. You just want to make sure you finish the season strongly and then you leave with good memories – if that turns out to be the case.
“You do your job, and we’ll speak at the end of the season and take it from there.
“For me, personally, I don’t really need contract talks at the minute because we’ve got big, big games coming up. Tthat’s where your head wants to be focused, and not distracted by anything else.”
