Raith Rovers boss Grant Murray believes his side can take plenty of positives from their trip to Tynecastle at the weekend, despite suffering defeat to Hearts.
Alim Osturk’s early strike was enough to give the hosts all three points and keep them four points clear over Rangers at the top of the Championship, although Rovers’ loss means they are now without a win in six league fixtures.
However, the Kirkcaldy club could well have taken something from Edinburgh on Saturday and Murray feels his side certainly showed enough to suggest their winless run could come to an end at home to Cowdenbeath this weekend.
“There was disappointment obviously with the result but I was proud of the players,” he stressed.
“I’ve watched Hearts on numerous occasions this season and they’ve torn teams apart and scored a lot of goals.
“It was also a big day all round outside just the football match but I thought the players handled it well.
“You’ve got to go to Tynecastle, be strong and use the ball well and I think we did both of those things.
“Yes we had a game plan to frustrate Hearts but we were a threat going forward.
“I felt we dealt with everything Hearts threw at us apart from the long range effort they got their goal from.”
The goal they conceded was particularly disappointing for Rovers as it gave them a mountain to climb from early on in the game.
Osturk’s fifth-minute strike from long distance did just enough to deceive Raith keeper David McGurn, although Murray felt his defenders could have closed the Hearts man down more quickly.
“Obviously we knew they were going to start the game well,” Murray continued.
“We know they want to blow teams away early doors and that’s why they are top of the league.
“They are a very good side and if you allow them to start well you will find it very difficult against them.
“I think we were a bit unfortunate but we’ve got to take the positives into the next game.”