Josh Mullin knows from experience how important it is for Raith Rovers to finish the season on a high – even if their title dreams are over.
The Stark’s Park side passed up the opportunity to put pressure on Championship leaders Dundee United when they fell to a 3-1 defeat to Airdrie on Tuesday night.
It was a fourth defeat in five games this season against the Diamonds, but none could prove as costly as the latest.
With only four games remaining and now a four-point gap to make up – or five given United’s vastly-superior goal difference – Raith have talked openly about the play-offs.
They will, of course, not give up on the possibility of catching their Tannadice rivals, but manager Ian Murray has admitted that, realistically, they now have little hope.
Mullin, too, appears to have turned his attentions to the secondary and more hazardous route to the top-flight.
However, the 31-year-old has been there and done it by winning promotion to the Premiership via the play-offs with Livingston in 2018.
And he admits there can be no lingering hangover should United, as now fully expected, go on and clinch the championship.
He said: “We’re in a title race and that’s the be-all and end-all. Dundee United are in the driving seat now.
Mullin: United in the ‘driving seat’
“But it’s about us trying to finish the season on a high and a positive.
“We just need to try to secure second place and hopefully Dundee United can drop points.
“They’re in the driving seat. But we need to finish the season on a positive note. I’ve stressed that to the boys.
“I’ve gone up through the play-offs before. If we can cement second place, it’s four games.
“I think if anyone had said we had four games to get to the Premiership we would have bitten their hand off at the start of the season.
“That’s the way you need to look at it. You need to try to stay positive going into the last four games of the season, just now.
“We’re four points behind and there’s 12 points left to play for, so anything can happen. You need to be positive that way.
“But I think we’ll look at trying to secure second and see where it takes us.
“One hundred per cent things could still change.”
Mullin: ‘Stay positive’
Raith have an 11-point lead over Saturday’s opponents Partick Thistle in third, but Mullin added: “Partick will look at us and maybe see an opportunity on Saturday to try to claw some points back.
“They’ll be trying to get second place now as well.
“But we need to stay positive and try to finish the season on a high and see what happens come the play-offs.”
In such an important game, Raith were strangely off the pace against bogey team Airdrie.
Two magnificent strikes from captain Adam Frizzell earned the Diamonds a 2-0 half-time lead and gave Rovers too much to do in the second-half.
Mullin gave them hope with a stunning 30-yard drive that curled into the bottom corner.
But, throwing caution to the wind with three and then effectively two in defence, Lewis McGregor broke to seal the victory for Rhys McCabe’s side.
That their vital third goal came just two minutes after Aidan Connolly had struck the upright for Raith made it even harder to bear.
Mullin added: “After I scored, we had a couple of chances and we hit the post.
“Then they go up the pitch and score and it kind of kills the game.
‘It just never fell for us’
“Going on the second-half, the fans will see we flung everything at it.
“Sometimes when you’re doing that you’re going to concede. That’s the way football is sometimes.
“You look at it, we had the chance to go 2-2 and it just never fell for us. But, listen, there’s plenty of other times it has fallen for us.
“We have to stay positive and stay on track.”
