Ian Murray has hailed two summer signings for driving new standards at Raith Rovers as they warmed up for the new season with a friendly win against Inverness Caley Thistle.
Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson have both arrived at the club this summer following lengthy careers at Hibernian.
Hanlon marked his home debut with the winning goal against Inverness four minutes from time as the Kirkcaldy men concluded their public preparations for the Premier Sports kick-off next weekend.
They have a closed-door game against Annan Athletic on Tuesday but this was an opportunity for the fans to see the fresh faces in action.
And Murray believes there are already plenty of positives from the capture of Hanlon and Stevenson, who arrive with the experience of nearly 1,200 first-team games with Hibs.
“Paul will score goals for us,” said Murray after the 1-0 victory over Inverness. “He’s impressive in the box, he’s a big guy.
“I know they’re not competitive Championship games but we’ve seen it now in the three games we’ve played.
“He’s so calm and reassuring on the ball. So far so good for him, and Lewis Stevenson and Callum Fordyce as well.
“Paul and Lewis have had a big influence, in terms of communication, standards and the demands of what they’re used to.
Demands
“That’s what they’re trying to bring to Raith Rovers, and they will.
“Then you have the playing side of it, which comes with demands.
“They pass the ball just that wee bit sharper than what we’re used to. So, we have to be in position a wee bit quicker.
“They’re technically good players, so they take less time to get the ball down and they see things a little bit quicker than others, which is normal.
“Over the next few weeks and months this season, the players will get used to that and they’ll be in positions to do it even quicker.”
After outings against East Fife and Montrose, this was an opportunity to improve fitness before the trip to Stirling Albion next weekend.
Hanlon, Kevin Dabrowski, Kieran Freeman, Euan Murray and Scott Brown all lasted the 90 minutes.
However, Shaun Byrne had to be substituted early in the second-half with an ankle injury.
Murray added: “I’m really, really happy. It was another clean sheet for us and more fitness towards the start of the season.
Shaun Byrne injury
“Especially with the new players, we tried to get as many of them on the pitch as we could, to get used to a game day for us.
“We got a lot of minutes in the lads. Obviously, Shaun picked up a wee knock, which isn’t ideal but these things happen in pre-season games.
“He rolled his ankle. It’s nothing major, just a sore one.
“Probably ideally we would have given Shaun 90 minutes today. But it gave Ross Matthews an opportunity because I wanted to get him in midfield as well.”
