Raith boss Ray McKinnon admits he has big concerns over striker Mark Stewart who is once again suffering from a recurring injury with medics now starting to worry he has one leg shorter than the other.
The front man missed the midweek trip to Ibrox against Rangers and is a big doubt for tomorrow’s game at Stark’s against St Mirren.
McKinnon, who bolstered his attacking options earlier this week with the addition of French striker Joel Thomas, admits Stewart will have to be carefully managed until the end of the season when a full cure will have to be found to his problem.
The manager said: “Mark has got a recurring problem in his Achilles and calf area. This is the third time it’s flared up this season and they’re trying to get to the bottom of it.
“They think one leg might be shorter than the other.
“So, they’re just trying to manage him to the end of the season and then get something sorted over the course of the close-season.
“He played on Saturday but hasn’t trained this week.
“He might train on Friday and then it’ll be a case of just getting through games between now and the end of the season.
“We’ve got a few players struggling for Saturday.
“Ryan McCord is struggling with his knee and had to come off on Tuesday, Rory McKeown is not training, Lewis Toshney has got a big bruise on his shin that’s causing a problem.
“But they’ll just have to play through it.
“We’ll have Ryan Hardie back and we rested guys like Aidan Connolly and Ross Callachan against Rangers.
“They’ll come back into the picture, so it’s not all doom and gloom.”
McKinnon, who also signed young striker Lewis Vaughan on an extended contract earlier this week, paid tribute to the contribution made by Thomas, who came on as a second-half sub against Rangers.
The manager said: “He’s a big unit and he was knocking people off the ball and retaining possession for us.
“That’s a big thing for us, retaining the ball, and he did OK at that.”
Raith face a vital double header in their chase for the fourth promotion play-off spot with the game against St Mirren being quickly followed on Tuesday night by a match with Queen of the South who are hot on their tail in fifth.
McKinnon added: “St Mirren are a good team on paper but we’re a good team as well. If we can get everybody on that park, we’re strong defensively as well.
“So, we don’t fear anybody and it’ll be a good game. Hopefully we can come out with the three points and create a wee gap.
“I think if we can win the next two games, it would give us a right good chance and, by the same token, if we don’t get beaten in these games it will still leave us with a good chance.
“The aim is to try and win the games but, at the same time, not lose them.”