Raith Rovers’ grip on top-four status in football’s William Hill Championship has been loosened by a 2-0 defeat at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday.

They remain third in the table after that third loss of the season, on 21 points from 12 fixtures, but they’re now only two points ahead of fourth-placed Caley, on 19 from 12, and three better off than fifth-placed fellow Fifers Dunfermline Athletic, on 18 from 11.

Partick Thistle replace Stenhousemuir in pole position, on 25 points from 12 matches, after beating them 3-0 at home at the weekend, with the Warriors dropping to second, on 23 from 11.

A trip to eighth-placed Arbroath is next up for manager Dougie Imrie’s Kirkcaldy club this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm, but a derby at home to Dunfermline six days later, at 7.30pm, looks likely to prove more decisive as they bid to retain possession of a play-off place going into the second third of the season.

Saturday’s loss to the Highlanders was Raith’s first since January 2024, the Fifers having won all four of their meetings in the interim, including April’s 4-1 KDM Evolution Trophy final victory at Glasgow’s Firhill Stadium.

Head coach Scott Kellacher’s visitors’ victory at Stark’s Park was secured by goals past home No 1 Josh Rae from on-loan Aberdeen midfielder Alfie Stewart on 14 minutes and 37.

They were among six shots on target registered by Caley, six times as many as their hosts managed over the 90 minutes-plus.

“It was a very disappointing afternoon,” Imrie, 43, told Raith TV afterwards.

“I’ve got no complaints to make about the result – Inverness fully deserved their victory.

“We lost two poor goals in the first half from being in relatively comfortable possession. We weren’t under any pressure but we tried to force a couple of passes and in both cases the ball was in the net ten to 15 seconds later and that was disappointing.

“The second half was better without being spectacular.

“I wanted us to go and get after them today. We had an opportunity to push away but unfortunately we didn’t manage to do that.

“Those two goals were as poor to concede as you’ll see all season, but take nothing away from Inverness – you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. I thought they were excellent on the day, with a lot of good interchanging in their play.

“Their game was a lot better than ours in the first half. Their passing was crisp and they’ve got good legs in their team.

“In wide areas and the middle of the pitch, they were excellent. It was just one of those days.

“The boys have been first class up until now. We need to take our medicine and move onto next week.

“It’s going to be the case for the rest of the season. There are going to be twists and turns.

“The biggest thing for us now is to dust ourselves down and get ready for another tough game next week away to Arbroath and try to get back on the winning trail.

“We’re in a good position but that can quickly change if you don’t pick up results.

“We’ve lost a game. Our reaction so far this season is that when we have lost, we’ve gone and won the next one and that’ll be the aim next week at a tough place to go to.”