Ryan Stevenson stepping in as an emergency goalkeeper for Raith Rovers on Tuesday night has made headlines around the world.

The forward had to pull on the gloves after injuries to the club's three registered 'keepers led to a failed move for Celtic goalkeeper Logan Bailly, and a last-ditch effort to have the game against Ayr United postponed.

So how did the crisis develop? Here's the full timeline of the events which led to the unusual occurrence.

Aaron Lennox breaks both his jaw and hand in a bounce game against Dundee United at St Andrews.

Kevin Cuthbert is forced out of action 29 minutes into the 3-0 defeat to Dundee United. Conor Brennan replaces him at Tannadice and concedes all three goals.

Cuthbert undergoes surgery the following day.

Conor Brennan suffers a foot injury in the 2-1 defeat to Queen of the South in the Championship.

Knowing all of their goalkeepers were now sidelined, club secretary Eric Drysdale makes moves to solve the problem.

He told Raith TV: "Driving up the road on Saturday, up the M74, I'm on the phone to the SPFL for guidance on what is and isn't available to us, because of the situation with the players we already have on loan."

"I got advice from Iain Blair on Saturday night and Sunday morning, and from Anton Fagan of the SPFL as well. We knew exactly what we could do."

Raith Rovers contact Celtic about signing their second choice keeper Logan Bailly on loan.

"Our preference was to find an over-21 goalkeeper with experience," Drysdale continued. "[John Hughes] was on the phone to Brendan Rodgers during the English League Cup final game. He was talking to Brendan and then talking to me.

"It was a very amicable discussion. Celtic were very helpful to us. A player was put our way. That was to be done on Monday but we were, meanwhile, making enquiries of other clubs and other agents to see, in case this deal fell through, we had somebody else to come in. But the main focus was on this Celtic player."

Cracks begin to show in the deal to bring Bailly to Kirkcaldy and it starts to look as if there will be further problems.

"Everything was tied up but suddenly, the Celtic goalkeeper was non-contactable," Drysdale explained.

"John Collins was acting on Yogi's behalf trying to speak to the player, trying to persuade him to come down to the Championship. But ultimately the player decided he didn't want to do that.

"Unfortunately he didn't decide that until 9pm [on Monday night]. We were working up until 9pm to get it over the line, and it fell through.

"We were left at 9pm with no option but to indicate to the SPFL that we had no goalkeeper. They knew that already because I had been talking to them repeatedly.

"That was to be done on Monday but we were, meanwhile, making enquiries of other clubs and other agents to see, in case this deal fell through, we had somebody else to come in. But the main focus was on this Celtic player."

Raith Rovers make an official request to postpone the league match before 9am.

They cite the example of Hearts' clash with Inverness Caley Thistle last season which was called off due to a mix of injuries and illness at Tynecastle.

This request is then rejected and the match goes ahead with attacker Ryan Stevenson pulling on the goalkeeper gloves.

"I thought there was no problem with it," Drysdale said. "But then Iain Blair came back to me to say that he was recommending to the board that the game should go ahead. Basically our pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

"I insisted it was appealed to the SPFL board. That happened very quickly during the course of the morning. Ultimately the decision was ratified just after noon."

The SPFL insists it is not to blame for Raith failing to field a recognised keeper against Ayr, saying they had a number of options open to them.

The club could have brought in an under-21 keeper or an out of contract goalie of any age without requiring permission from the SPFL.

Failing that, they could also have requested to bring a keeper in on an emergency basis.

An SPFL source told STV that Raith made no attempt to formally indicate they were exploring that option.