Raith Rovers midfielder Liam Fox reckons there is still plenty for his side to play for as the final quarter of the season gets underway.
Alloa are the visitors to Stark’s Park in today’s evening kick-off in the Championship and, although the chances of promotion via the play-offs now look slim, Fox has reassured Rovers fans that no-one at the Kirkcaldy club is about to down tools and think about the summer break just yet.
“I think if you are being honest it’s going to be a very difficult ask to get into the play-offs and losing down at Queen of the South on Saturday was probably the bit of distance they needed to take us out of it,” he admitted.
“It’s disappointing with the squad of players we’ve got here, but all we can do is try to win as many games as we can between now and the end of the season.
“Stranger things have happened in football but, if we’re being realistic, Queen of the South and Falkirk are probably out of sight at the moment.
“Of course there is still a chance and if we can win a couple of the games coming up, football can turn around very quickly.
“A week is a long time in football and one or two wee results could put doubt in other people’s minds, so it’s one game at a time.
“There’s no point looking at Saturday’s game thinking: ‘If we win that and then that, and they lose here’
“Football doesn’t work like that, so we’ve got to concentrate on Alloa and hope to get the three points.
“If you look too far ahead you end up tripping yourself up, so we’ve got to concentrate on being the best team on any given day.
“We’re also coming to that time of the season where the manager is going to assess his squad and he’s going to see what he can improve on and look to see who he’s wanting to keep.
“The way Scottish football is just now, the majority of teams only hand out one year contracts so that’s there to play for as well.”
Rovers will be without striker Christian Nade who will serve the first game of the two-match suspension handed out after his straight red card in the defeat to Hearts on Tuesday night, while fellow forward Calum Elliot could make the bench but is unlikely to start.
Rovers went down 3-1 to the champions elect on Tuesday night but Fox insists Raith can take plenty of heart from their showing against the league leaders.
He continued: “Obviously Tuesday night we were playing against a side who were very high on confidence and who are probably going to run away with the league.
“They are the best time by an absolute mile, for me, so it was always going to be a difficult game.
“We conceded a goal and we managed to get back into the game with a good header just before half-time.
“So we were pleased to be level at half-time and I think for the first 20 minutes of the second half I thought we were alright.
“I wouldn’t say we were reasonably comfortable because the way that Hearts play and the players that they have they are always going to dominate possession and have two on ones in wide areas.
“But we didn’t feel they were cutting us open and we were restricting them to shots from distance.
“Obviously the sending off was a turning point in the game and we can’t get away from that.
“They made a couple of changes and unfortunately we conceded the second so it was an uphill battle from there.
“They had boys flooding forward and getting into pockets of space so it was difficult for us to get out.
“We were disappointed but there are always positives to take from every game and stuff you can work on, so all we need to do now is look forward to Alloa.
“It was always going to be a difficult game against Hearts because they are the best team in the league, but that doesn’t mean you should accept that and not try to take something from the game.
“It’s slightly different this weekend because the roles will be reversed and people will be expecting us to win the game, so that’s a pressure we need to handle and I believe that if we go out and put a performance on, nine times out of 10 the result will follow.”
The focus of BBC Alba’s cameras will be on today’s game, hence the 5.30pm kick-off time, and Fox hopes being at home will be advantage in spite of the Stark’s Park pitch.
“It’s not being disrespectful to anybody, but it is quite difficult to pass the ball and play on it,” he added.
“But it’s the same for both teams and we just need to go out and find a way to win on Saturday.”