Raith boss John McGlynn laments 'embarrassing' goals against Hearts and confirms appeal will be made

Disappointed Raith Rovers manager John McGlynn branded the concession of three second-half goals to Hearts as “embarrassing” after a crushing 4-0 defeat by the Jambos.

Rovers went into the final day of the regular Championship season with their destiny in their own hands, knowing that a victory would secure second spot and avoid the quarter-finals of the Premiership play-offs.

Alas, they found the going tough against the league champions, going down 4-0 to Hearts at Stark’s Park. The result means that they will face Fife rivals Dunfermline Athletic for the right to face Dundee, whose 2-0 win at Queen of the South moved them above McGlynn’s men.

The first leg will be played at East End Park on Tuesday – the second played at Raith a week on Saturday – and Raith could be without veteran defender Iain Davidson, who was sent off for giving away a penalty.

McGlynn could not hide his disdain at some of his team’s “silly football” but expects to appeal Davidson’s red card after he was dismissed for a last-man challenge on Euan Henderson, with TV replays showing minimal contact was made.

"The goals that we lose in the second half are embarrassing,” said McGlynn. “We've got opportunities to clear the ball, but we didn't. That was silly football. We have to lick our wounds.

"The game probably turns on the sending off. That leaves us with a very difficult task. It spoilt the game. If we were to have any chance, we had to have 11 players on the park. It became a training exercise for Hearts, hard work for us. We managed to shoot ourselves in the foot with two of the goals we lost. We were a little bit unprofessional.”

On the sending off, McGlynn said: "I’ve not seen it but I’ve been told there is no contact and based on that we’ll appeal it.”

Raith’s attentions now turn to Dunfermline and McGlynn added: “If we had been given this opportunity at the start of the season we would have taken it with both hands. We’ve had three great games with Dunfermline and everything stacks up for being a really good quarter-final, it’s a derby – bring it on."

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