Grant Murray has urged his Raith Rovers team to recall the feeling of frustration they felt in the last round against Linlithgow Rose when they seek to cope with the pressure of their Scottish Cup meeting with Stirling Albion.
Rovers travelled to the unfamiliar surroundings of Linlithgow’s Prestonfield at the start of the month with massive pressure on their shoulders against their opponents from the junior ranks.
Murray reckons virtually the whole of Scottish football was hoping there would be a massive shock and he will know his Stark’s Park outfit could easily have served up what everyone wanted because of a slipshod first-half performance.
The Kirkcaldy men eventually saw off their hosts, but Murray has called on his players to learn the harsh lessons of that encounter when they take on League One Stirling at Forthbank again bearing the expectations of progress.
He said: “I hope the players use that. It is one of those ties where probably everyone, apart from people at Raith Rovers, wanted to see a slip-up.
“Everyone wants to see an upset and that was probably the one tie where everybody was focusing and wanting to know the result.
“It was a difficult day. Linlithgow made it awkward for us, they made it very difficult for us, but we got through and that was the most important thing.
“Once we got the first goal we always felt comfortable. But we’ve got to use that, we’ve got to use how we felt at half-time in that game, where we were frustrated.
“The players were frustrated and we’ve got to have that memory in our heads.”