Raith boss Ray McKinnon insists he does not have to demand exacting standards from his players as they are setting the bar high themselves.
Rovers are currently seven games unbeaten and while the Stark’s Park manager will not admit it himself until it is mathematically certain, it would take an unbelievable sequence of results to prevent them playing in the end-of-season promotion play-offs.
Considering the tight budget McKinnon and Raith operate under, it is nothing short of amazing that they have all but cemented their position in fourth place in the Championship.
That is due in no small part to the team spirit at the club, a factor that has not gone unnoticed elsewhere with the likes of Aberdeen assistant boss Tony Docherty remarking about it to McKinnon.
The manager, who is currently running the rule over a mystery foreign trialist, said: “I still think we’ll be the dark horses, if we do get into the play-offs, simply because of the teams that are in there and the fact all the pressure is on the other sides.
“There is no pressure on us to get promoted. If we do get into the play-offs and I’m stressing we’re not there yet there’s no pressure on us.
“We’ve kept the performance levels up and we’ve been so consistent of late. If we take that into the game on Saturday against Queen of the South, then I’m sure it’ll be the right result.
“They are absolutely buzzing. You can see it every morning they are having a laugh and a joke and you see it in training. The atmosphere is tremendous.
“Earlier this week I didn’t even have to say a word in training, they just got on with it and they were training well with plenty of intensity.
“When you have that spirit and self-confidence it makes my job easy. You can’t buy that.
“It’s all about confidence, and every player in our dressing room is feeling that.
“The players are setting their own standards. You look at boys like Benny (Kyle Benedictus] and Lewis Toshney they have a great enthusiasm for training and, as a coach, you can’t get enough of players like that.
“Tony Doc was at our game the other night and, while he was impressed with the performance, what he said was, ‘Your team spirit is amazing’. It’s difficult to get that, even the boys coming off the bench, they are all part of it.”
McKinnon was also delighted that young Lewis Vaughan made his comeback from a serious knee injury earlier this week for the Under-20s and the manager admits if he continues to progress as planned, it will be like having a new signing as the season edges to what could be an exciting conclusion for the club.
He added: “I’m absolutely delighted for Lewis. I spoke to him after the game and he was a wee bit upset that he didn’t play like Messi I thought: ‘You’ve not played a game in nine months!’ He was gutted.
“But what a bonus it is for us. He’ll get a bounce game next week and then, you never know, he could be in line for 15 minutes in the first team. He is getting closer and closer and he’ll be like a new signing.”