Short stays at Stark’s Park have been a crucial factor in the development of rising stars like David Goodwillie, Johnny Russell and David Templeton, and now Raith Rovers boss John McGlynn is hoping to repeat the trick with St Johnstone’s Stephen Reynolds.
The 19-year-old striker has joined the Kirkcaldy club on a six-month loan and goes straight into the squad for their first pre-season friendly against Arbroath tonight.
McGlynn said, “Derek McInnes and Tony Docherty think he’s got a lot of potential so he’s coming here with the backing of his management team. We’ll be doing our best to bring that potential out of him and give him the experience all young players need.
“We’d like to think we’ve got a decent track record as far as doing well with young loan players is concerned and hopefully that will be the case with Stephen. If it works out all three parties will benefit the player, ourselves and St Johnstone.”
McGlynn expects his second SPL loan signing to be with them next week.
It’s been a long wait for the Raith players to begin their pre-season friendlies, and the Rovers manager admitted the players are “champing at the bit” to get going.
After tonight’s match at Gayfield, they’ll stay in Angus for a Saturday afternoon clash with Montrose. A home fixture against Morecambe will be played on Tuesday and then there’s another double-header next weekend at the East Fife tournament.
McGlynn said, “Our start might be later than most but we’ve stuck by what’s served us well over the years. The boys have trained well and hopefully we’ll have a full squad to choose from.
“I was at Arbroath’s match against St Johnstone on Monday and they acquitted themselves very well. They’re a team used to winning games and will give us a very good test.”
Scott McBride had a foot infection but trained on Thursday and should be available.Arbroath trialistsArbroath also have back-to-back Friday-Saturday fixtures. Their second match will be against Highland League side Keith.
Boss Paul Sheerin will have a lot to mull over come Sunday, as he is planning to use six or seven trialists over the two games as he seeks to put the finishing touches to his squad for their second division campaign.
“Our squad is up to 15, so we’re getting there numbers-wise,” he said. “But I’m still looking to strengthen in a couple of positions, particularly out wide where I’d like to bring in a player with pace.
“We’ve had a few players training with us and some of them have done really well.”
Kevin Finlayson was a trialist in Monday’s 2-0 defeat by St Johnstone, but he won’t be offered terms.
Sheerin said, “I was delighted with our performance against St Johnstone. The only thing that was disappointing was the result, and that isn’t really important at this stage.
“If you compare the match to the one we played against Saints this time last year, the improvement from us was vast.
“Our new signings did very well and I was really happy with our fitness levels as well.
“I was keen to get all our signed players some action on Monday but for these back-to-back matches I’ll obviously have to mix things up a bit.”