Stark’s Park will be hosting football for the first time since last November when Raith Rovers welcome Hibs for their Scottish Cup fourth round meeting. Of course, the sides met in the league at Easter Road last weekend with a point staying in Edinburgh thanks to a Jason Cummings goal at the start of the second half. The win kept Hibs just three points behind league leaders Rangers, and meant that Alan Stubbs men have now just lost once in their last 16 league games. Despite the reverse, Ray McKinnon’s side remain in the play-off spots, two points ahead of Queen of the South, and having played a game less.
This will be the fourth time that Rovers have faced Hibs this season, and so far, they’ve lost on each occasion. In August, James Keatings and Jason Cummings were on target as Hibs won by two goals to nil, while in October, a rousing second half showing from Rovers wasn’t enough, as they lost their 100% home record, losing 2-1, after Jon Daly replied to first-half strikes from John McGinn and Cummings again. Despite Rovers league results against the visitors this season, Rovers can look back at an impressive Scottish Cup record against Hibs. Since 1896, the two teams have met in this competition 14 times with Rovers only losing three times. The last time the two were drawn together was in 2014, with Grant Anderson grabbing a winner in a five-goal-thriller. Before that, the previous meeting was in 1998, with Raith again putting themselves into the next round, after a 2-1 win at Easter Road, thanks to two goals from John Millar.