Queen of the South got what they deserved in a narrow defeat to Kelty Hearts on Tuesday night, according to boss Wullie Gibson.
The manager watched his side miss multiple golden opportunities as they fell 1-0 with seventh-placed Queens now only ahead of Kelty in the table on goal difference – with both sides on 10 points.
Gutted Gibson said: “It’s majorly disappointing. I told the players before the match that we’d face a battle.
“We knew coming here would be difficult. You need to be more aggressive, have more energy, work harder than the opposition and hopefully our quality comes through. But we didn’t do the basics well enough. But to be honest, we got what we deserved. I thought Kelty got their goal and then they were well organised and hard to beat. They were winning first and second balls and putting themselves about. We didn’t do that which is disappointing.”
The Doonhamers had a raft of chances but Michael Tidser’s goal was all that separated the two teams.
Those missed chances cost Queens, which has been a theme this season, but the manager is trying to take the pressure off the squad and on to him.
He said: “I’ll take the pressure away from the players. I pick the team, I signed the players and I assembled the squad. I want them to play without pressure and perform.
“It’s alright me saying I feel I’ve assembled a good squad but they’ve got to start showing that. They do need to take a little bit of responsibility but the results will fall on my head at the end of the day.”
Euan East will be assessed in training before Saturday’s match with Peterhead after picking up an ankle injury in Tuesday’s game.
Gibson knows how important three points could be this weekend.
He said: “We went up there and had a good win at the start of the season. They’ve signed a few players and been harder to beat.
“But for us it’s about bouncing back. As the old saying goes fall off the horse you’ve got to get back on it quick and onto a winning run.”
