Lewis Stevenson reacts to Fife derby defeat to Dunfermline as he talks Raith Rovers ‘excuses’

Lewis Stevenson accepts that Raith Rovers desperately need a victory – and quick – after their Fife derby disappointment.

The Stark’s Park men plunged to the bottom of the Championship with Friday night’s ‘devastating’ 2-0 defeat to rivals Dunfermline.

With only five league games played, and just two games into the reign of new manager Neill Collins, it is far too early for any panic in the ranks at Stark’s Park over their lowly league position.

But, having now suffered four straight defeats, and having won just once in their last eight games, Stevenson knows the Kirkcaldy outfit cannot afford to let their slump continue.

“We need to focus on ourselves and try not look at the table,” said the experienced former Hibernian defender. “But the longer this goes on, the worse it’s going to get.

“So we need to focus on Hamilton Accies next week now.

“It’s a devastating defeat for us. We genuinely wanted to go to East End Park and win away to our local rivals.

“So we’re all gutted. But we only have ourselves to blame and the only thing we can do is focus on next week and get a win there.”

Stevenson is a veteran of 49 Edinburgh derbies, a club record at Hibs.

And, as a boyhood follower of Raith, he knows exactly what the Fife version means to both communities.

‘It is the worst feeling’

Following five straight victories for Rovers last season, goals from Ewan Otoo and David Wotherspoon – after Euan Murray’s red card – means it is Dunfermline with the bragging rights for the time being.

“It’s never a nice feeling, it’s the worst kind of feeling you can get in football,” added Rovers’ summer signing.

“I actually thought when we went down to ten men we dealt with it quite well. They didn’t really have a shot on target and it’s a deflection for the goal.

“But I’m not making any excuses, Dunfermline deserved their win.

“Even with ten men we still need to try and make things happen and take more responsibility with the ball.”

Murray’s sending off after just 15 minutes, for hauling down Chris Kane to prevent the striker from scampering through on goal, was clearly a key moment in the game.

It left Dunfermline with possible gaps to exploit, but the statistics actually show it was Raith – with 52 per cent – who enjoyed the majority of possession.

However, that they managed just three shots – and none on target – to the Pars’ 13 tells a different and more frustrating story for Stevenson.

“We shot ourselves in the foot,” admitted Stevenson. “It’s the same old story every week.

‘Take responsibility’

“We can’t keep making excuses. We need to look inside the squad and inside the changing room and start taking more responsibility to try to turn things around.

“The manager wants us to play. He’s got confidence in the squad, he knows what we can do in training. But there is no point in doing it in training, you need to do it in a game.

“We keep saying the same thing week-in, week-out. We’re not showing with the ball what we can do.

“We need to take responsibility, not just without the ball, but with it as well and cause teams more problems than what we are.”