Raith Rovers Reaction | Tony Docherty

After today’s friendly with Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park, assistant manager Tony Docherty gave his reaction

“It was a very worthwhile exercise. Initially at the start of the game it was important to get minutes into the players who have not been playing. And we managed to do that. As the game progressed we were able to get other players on.

“To come out and win 2-0 against a good Raith Rovers team, to keep a clean sheet and to have a look at the players ahead of Thursday night, it was a good afternoon’s work. “Raith were very much up for it and made it difficult for us. They have some good players. They are very organised against the ball and this is why we took this game. We know it would be a real test. I know Raymond well and his backroom staff and I think they will have a good season. “I think the younger boys who started grew into the game. Wright, Rose, Storie, Smith, Shankland and Ross when he came on all acquitted themselves well. You see the strength we now have in the squad but it is important these boys when they do get an opportunity to show what they can do that they do well and I think they all did that today. “We now focus fully on Thursday. Rijeka are a very decent outfit. We know they are a good side. They are very strong with a lot of internationals in their line-up, they regularly play with eight in their staring XI. They are strong defensively. They have a lot of good technical players. As a unit they play well and play within a system that they are very comfortable with. “We have to find a way over the two legs to get the better of them. We have to be very well organised against the ball and if we do that we have players who can hurt them. We have to remember the tie is over 180 minutes and we have to look at both ties and manage them properly if we are to get through. We have to make sure we have done our homework on them to give ourselves a chance of qualifying for the next stage. “The level of opposition that we put out last week was a high level of opposition. They are a side we think would do well in the domestic league but the Croatian side are a step up when you look at their ranking, the type of players they have got and the finance they have got. “It is going to be a difficult task but we have been here before and we have been successful. We played a very strong Groningen side at this time last year so we have a belief and confidence about our squad.”

RedTV | Tony's interview in full | please click here RedTV | Ashton Taylor's reaction | please click here