Raith Rovers manager Grant Murray has not ruled out making another emergency loan move after injury curtailed Hearts striker Dale Carrick’s stay at Stark’s Park.
The 21-year-old forward suffered a recurrence of a troublesome hamstring injury during Sunday’s Scottish Cup win over Rangers and has returned to Tynecastle after being ruled out for six weeks.
And with striker Calum Elliot set to remain sidelined for the next two to three weeks at least with his knee injury, Murray is weighing up whether or not to stick with what he has or aim to bring in further reinforcements.
“The lad himself is devastated,” he said of Carrick’s injury yesterday.
“He felt that he was over his injury problems, he had had three weeks’ training with Hearts and had been involved in Under 20s games, he came in and trained with us and was involved in the Hibs game.
“He didn’t start that game because he had only trained with us on the Friday, but we decided to go with him on Sunday and he caused Rangers lots of problems.
“Then before you know it he’s felt it again, so it’s just unfortunate.
“We’ll have a look about.
“At the end of the day we brought Dale in because we felt he was the right player to fit into the squad we’ve got with Calum Elliot missing.
“But the right player has got to be available and out there for us.
“It does leave us slightly short but we’ve got a good group of players who are competitive enough.”
Rovers have been on a high after their exploits on Sunday for good reason, and now have a quarter-final date with Inverness on the horizon.
“I think when you get a win like that the feel-good factor whether it be supporters, the club, the players gives you a massive lift,” Murray continued.
“To get through the tie on Sunday was the biggest plus and to get through to this stage in the cup is massive in itself.
“When the draw was made, I look back to the first year I had here and when we got to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.
“We had Aberdeen away, Dundee away, and you look at what you had to do in those games to get through.
“Sunday was the same for the players the effort and commitment they put in was exceptional.
“And they are going to need that again at Inverness.
“It’s another hard draw that we’ve got, another very difficult draw, and any time you go up to Inverness in a league game or a cup game you know what you are getting.
“It’s a travelling one, it’s a mind thing, but we’re delighted to be in the hat first and foremost.
“You look at who’s left in and every game would have something that’s difficult about it.
“It is a difficult game but it’s a game that we can look forward to when it comes around, although we’ve got too many big games coming up to start thinking about it just now.”
Rovers head into tomorrow’s home match with Falkirk six points adrift of the Bairns in the table, although the Kirkcaldy club do have a game in hand.
Queen of the South, who currently occupy the fourth promotion play-off spot, are a further point clear, meaning the outcome of this weekend’s game at Stark’s Park could be hugely significant in the play-off race.
“When you get to this stage in the season, the games get bigger and bigger as the weeks go by,” Murray acknowledged.
“This one against Falkirk is another huge game.
“The games have been close between us this season and our recent run started through at the Falkirk Stadium in December.
“It was a totally gritty performance, there wasn’t a lot in the game and we were able to see it out once we got a goal.
“But Falkirk have gone a good run themselves and they’ve only lost one in 12 which is a great run to be on.
“They got themselves into the next round of the Scottish Cup last week so they’ll still feel that they can get plenty out of their season.
“They’ll feel that their main aim is to get into that top four.”