With two victories and two clean sheets in its wake, Scott Brown believes Raith Rovers have learned valuable lessons from their Scottish Cup hammering from Celtic.
The 5-0 loss at Parkhead may have been sore at the time – if not entirely unexpected.
But the Stark’s Park side have been eager to take positives from their glimpse into the top level of Scottish football.
Following up the heavy defeat with wins over Partick Thistle and Hamilton Accies, Brown is convinced the defensive work they did in trying to stifle the Hoops has paid off in the shut-outs that now have them eyeing a promotion play-off place.
“We’ve obviously kept two clean sheets in a row, which has been massive for us off the back of a tough game against Celtic, obviously,” Brown told Courier Sport ahead of Tuesday night’s trip to face bottom side Airdrie.
“I think we’ve taken a lot from that Celtic game.
“I would say that our performances off the back of the two games have been really good off the ball.
“I think we’ve looked a lot more solid. Our pressing’s been a wee bit better.
‘Their quality was obvious’
“We saw the way they pressed us and we knew it was a difficult game.
“Listen, 5-0 was a bit of hiding, obviously, but they played their way, their quality was obvious.
“And then you watch them against against Bayern Munich, and I was so impressed with how they played.
“To go toe-to-toe with those guys was obviously a big lesson for us. And we’ve come back and shown at our level that we can do that.”
Raith impressed in their 3-0 victory over Partick that opened up an opportunity to make a push for fourth place.
They were below their best in difficult conditions against Hamilton on Saturday but still closed out a 2-0 win to gain another two points on Thistle.
It was only the second time this season that Rovers have managed consecutive shut-outs in a season disrupted by managerial upheaval and changes in styles.
Another sound defensive performance against Airdrie would be the platform for another valuable three points.
‘Massive’
“Somehow it feels like we’ve managed to close the gap, all of a sudden,” added Brown. “It felt like we were kind of floating in mid-table.
“But two wins in a row is massive for us.
“We know our record at Airdrie isn’t the best, so it’s going to be tough down there. They’ve picked up a good bit as well, I would say.
“But we’re really looking forward to it. On the back of two big results it’d be good to go back down there and get another three points.”
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