Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Cody David progress assessed as Neill Collins talks up Raith Rovers options

The ex-Everton striker made his second appearance for the Kirkcaldy side in the 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle.

New Raith Rovers striker Cody David.
Cody David made his second appearance for Raith Rovers against Partick Thistle. Image: Paul Byars / SNS Group.

Newest signing Cody David is pressing his case for a bigger role at Raith Rovers, according to manager Neill Collins.

The former Everton trainee was recruited last month as a free agent after it emerged that Lewis Vaughan would be out of action until February following hamstring surgery.

David has had to be patient as he has worked hard to improve his fitness following a summer searching for a new club.

The 23-year-old made his debut as a late substitute in the 2-1 defeat to Livingston on October 26 and again made a cameo appearance in the 79th minute of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle.

Cody David speaks with Raith Rovers team-mate Dylan Easton after the full-time whistle against Partick Thistle.
Cody David (right) speaks with Dylan Easton after the full-time whistle against Partick Thistle. Image: Ross MacDonald / SNS Group.

But, after the striker previously sat out the wins over Airdrie and Ayr United, Collins has predicted greater involvement for the short-term signing in the coming weeks.

“Cody’s good,” said the Rovers boss, who fears he has lost Callum Smith to a long-term knee injury. “I think he’s been unfortunate in the games we’ve been winning.

“In the Airdrie game, we just didn’t feel we needed him. And the same against Ayr, again, at 2-0 up.

“But Cody’s trained really well. Especially at the start of last week; he was looking sharp.

“He’s definitely looking fitter, so he’s competing to get minutes.

“And I expect to see him on the pitch over the next couple of games.”

Options

Saturday’s stalemate at Firhill against Thistle was proof of the growing options Collins has at his disposal.

The Raith manager was able to shake up an underperforming side at the interval with a change of shape thanks to the introduction of on-loan Hearts youngster Finlay Pollock.

Ross Matthews and Lewis Gibson followed Pollock onto the pitch just after the hour mark before David was thrown into the fray for the closing stages.

Josh Mullin, meanwhile, was an unused substitute and the injured Sam Stanton, as well as Aidan Connolly, did not make the final 20-man selection.

Raith Rovers boss Neill Collins looks to his left.
Neill Collins is happy with the strength of his Raith Rovers squad. Image: Ross MacDonald / SNS Group.

“We’ve got good competition in the squad and the lads that are competing are competing hard for places,” added Collins.

“Cody is an out-and-out [number] nine and there’s Josh, Aidan up front as well. They’re all competing, they’re all training well, that’s all I can ask.

“That’s what we expect. We don’t expect anything else; working hard is a prerequisite.

“It’s not always the case in some places. But these boys’ attitudes have been good and they’ve continued to push, and that’s what we need.”

Conversation