Raith boss Ray McKinnon is keeping his fingers crossed that a potential loan move for a young striker from an English club can come to fruition this weekend.
The Rovers manager has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to bolster his forward options following the departure of Jon Daly, who is now coaching at Hearts, along with Craig Wighton who has returned to Dundee following the end of his loan spell at Stark’s Park.
McKinnon drafted in another player on loan earlier this week from Hamilton, Louis Longridge, and despite not being an out-and-out striker he was pressed into service as one on Tuesday night against Alloa.
Raith dominated the game but just could not put the ball into the net and lost out to a late sucker punch.
Despite the loss, Raith are still sitting in the fourth play-off spot in the Championship which is nothing short of remarkable considering their recent horrendous run with injuries.
However, McKinnon knows his side’s future prospects will be enhanced hugely if they can sign a striker who can hit the back of the net on a regular basis. He said: “We’re speaking to a club down south about a loan for a young striker and we’ll have to see what happens.
“He’s a player who’s been highly recommended to us, he’s a talented boy and we’re hopeful.
“I would love to think we could get something done before Saturday but we’re waiting to hear back.
“We need to add a striker, there’s no doubt about it.
“We created enough chances to win on Tuesday but we didn’t have an out-and-out striker available and it’s not rocket science to realise we need somebody to put the ball in the back of the net.
“We didn’t play as badly as it looks. We created chances and we got caught on the counter-attack with a sucker punch.
“We should never have got caught, we should probably have just seen the game out and got a draw out of it.”
McKinnon, who praised Longridge for his contribution playing out of position, also revealed that the club are finally beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the long-term injured.
He added: “We’ve had a period where we’ve struggled with a lot of injuries, we’ve had boys playing out of position, and it’s caught up with us in the end.
“We just have to regroup and look forward.
“We’ve got Grant Anderson along with Mark Stewart back and if we can get in a striker then we’ll be back to nearly full strength.
“Lewis Toshney says he’s near enough there but I want him to get a week’s training in first before I consider him.
“Every time he’s come back for a couple of days and played he’s pulled up, so I want him to get a week’s training in first.
“Jason Thomson’s probably just four or five weeks away.
“He’ll get a scan next week but it looks like he’s back.
“Then he’ll have to come back in for training and get some games.
“Even Mango (Craig Barr) looks like he’s coming back to training, although he’s a ‘pre-season’ away.
“We’re talking about Lewis Vaughan being back training in the next four weeks.
“So, we could have everybody back training in four weeks, which would be a great boost.”