Defender Paul Watson reckons Raith Rovers can make a massive statement in the play-off race by seeing off in-form Falkirk at Stark’s Park.
Rovers are just six points behind the Bairns in the Championship table with a game in hand, although until now most pundits have suggested the fight for fourth spot seems to be purely between Peter Houston’s men and Queen of the South.
But the Kirkcaldy club have now gone on a run of six games unbeaten, a string of results that ironically started at the Falkirk Stadium just after Christmas, and Watson is determined to make it seven with a win this afternoon.
“I think Falkirk were on a similar run when we beat them, so they’ll be looking to do the same to us and end that run,” he told Courier Sport.
“But we’ll just be wanting to keep the momentum going and try and win as many games as we can.
“When you’ve not won in four games, your confidence is rock bottom.
“But when we picked ourselves up at Falkirk and managed to win that game, it started to get the belief back amongst the squad and we’ve managed to kick on from there.
“I think it will be a straight fight for that fourth spot between ourselves, Falkirk and Queen of the South.
“I’d be surprised if Hibs don’t finish above Rangers, to be honest, because, although we got a good result, Hibs were fantastic when we played them.
“But if we could finish in that fourth spot it would be a fantastic season for us.
“It will be tough, because I think Falkirk have spent a good bit of money in January on a lot of players.
“And obviously Queen of the South are a fantastic team as well.
“So it will be tough, but that’s where we’re looking.
“If we can win this one it sets up the run in the end of the season really, really well.”
Prior to Christmas, Raith looked to be in danger of being sucked into the mire at the wrong end of the table, but the 1-0 win at Falkirk on December 27 seems to have turned their season around.
The feel-good factor is very much back, and Watson admits the players were determined to keep plugging away during those dark days even when results were hard to come by.
“It’s one of those things where it’s hard to put your finger on it,” he continued.
“We’ve still been training as hard, still been training the same.
“But I don’t know why things have turned around, it’s just one of these things.
“You get decisions in games that can change games, you get luck – and sometimes they go for you and other times against you.
“I think we’ve been getting some good decisions, but also we’ve been working hard and pulling together as a unit, I think.”
Watson added that the furore over their Scottish Cup win over Rangers on Sunday quickly died down early in the week as the focus shifted to today’s important league clash.
But he admitted that the 2-1 success at Ibrox only served to bolster the side’s confidence heading into this weekend’s fixture.
“Rangers have got a lot of problems off the field at the minute, so we sort of used that to our advantage,” he added.
“In our two previous results against them, we thought we were hard done by.
“We were beaten 6-1 and it was never a 6-1 game.
“I think we were just unfortunate on the day.
“So we were quietly confident and I thought we played really well.
“I hit the post with a header, I’ve seen it back and I think Ricky Foster got a small touch on the line and took it away.
“I missed an absolute sitter there in the league at 1-0 down, which cost us a wee bit.
“But I’ve hit the post this time, so I’m getting closer!”
Rovers boss Grant Murray lost the services of on loan Hearts striker Dale Carrick earlier this week after a hamstring injury ruled him out for six weeks.
And with forward Calum Elliot remaining sidelined for another two to three weeks at least, the Rovers boss has some thinking to do about his attacking options.
“The games have been close and we cancelled each other out in the first game,” Murray concluded.
“They’ve got a good squad, they’ve added to it in the window and they’ve got a nucleus of Premier League players in there.
“They turned down two offers for Rory Loy in January as well.
“Players are playing at Falkirk for a reason, because they want to do well and get Falkirk out of the Championship.”
Under 16s will gain entry to Stark’s Park today for free under the club’s Bring the Bairns initiative.