Ryan McGowan reckons Livingston have to show a bit of character to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat at home to Ayr, but says that won’t be easy against Raith Rovers.

The Australian defender reckons Rovers are in a false position, sitting sixth in the Championship, four points behind a Queen’s Park side they beat 2-1 on Friday night.

Livingston went down to a George Oakley strike the following day, and McGowan says how they respond to that set-back is important, as they head for Kirkcaldy.

He said: “You want to win your home games, but it was always going to be a tough game – Ayr are a good team, with a good manager.

“I felt like there wasn’t too much in the game.

“We conceded a sloppy goal from our point of view. In the second half we were a little bit better, their keeper made some good saves, but overall we need to perform a little bit better, and move on to next week.

“I don’t know if we did enough to win the game, but I don’t know if we didn’t do enough to at least get a draw out of it.

“But then Raith could probably say the same of the reverse fixture down there that we won 2-1.

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“We wanted to win, but it’s a difficult league, and a long season, so we just need to dust ourselves down and move on to Raith.

“As a professional footballer there’s part of you that will always analyse it, want to do better, and see where you could have prevented something or did a little bit more.

“But we’ve got a good squad in there that has done well this season – I think that’s only our second defeat in 18 games, so as much as we’re hurting and it’s not what we wanted, we need to show a bit of character and bounce back.”

McGowan believes Rovers have played well in 1-0 and 2-1 wins for the Lions this season, and will present a tough test.

He said: “I think Raith are probably in a bit of a false position. We’ve played them twice this season and won both games, with two late winners, so we’re under no illusions that it’s going to be a really tough game – but I think pretty much every game has been that way.

“It’s a really competitive league and we just need to get back to winning ways.

“We’re at the half-way point in the league and I think [second spot] is probably a fair reflection.”