Derek Riordan signed for Rovers late in September 2012 after agreeing terms on a short-term deal which was to run for three months, taking him up to the end of the year. He had been without a club since leaving St Johnstone at the end of the 2011–12 season and had been unable to find another team to take him on until Mark McGhee offered him the chance to play for Rovers. Perhaps a contributing factor to other clubs not being willing to take a chance on him was that he had ongoing legal problems, with a trial for assault at an Edinburgh night club pending.