Queen of the South boss Wullie Gibson said his side needs to be a hell of a lot better when they welcome Montrose to Palmerston tomorrow.
The Doonhamers capitulated in their 5-1 drubbing away to Alloa Athletic last week in a game which saw the South concede four goals in the second half with three coming in the space of five minutes.
Gibson said: “We need a reaction.
“Montrose have been in the play-offs for the last three or four years. They’re a good, well-drilled side. I know they’re part-time but they make the most of it. They had another good win last Saturday.
“They’ll come down with confidence and you know what? If they watch the highlights from the Alloa game their strikers probably can’t wait to come down. We need to be a hell of a lot better.”
Just about everything that could have gone wrong for the Doonhamers went wrong at Recreation Park.
Gavin Reilly’s goal in the second minute was the only highlight as things deteriorated from there.
The squad went over the horror show in training this week as they look to avoid anything nearly as bad this weekend.
Gibson said: “You can see what went wrong on Saturday. The first one comes in and Conor Sammon’s got a free header, sclaff, it falls to them and they score.
“Another one is a long ball. I think Max (Currie) should come out for it. Once Max decides he’s not coming out for it we’ve got to deal with it and it’s a free header.
“Then there’s another one where it’s just dropped into an area, the boy spins into the channel, squares the ball and it’s a tap in at the back post. It was just very poor. It was schoolboy defending.
“We had the subs ready because I was going to make the change at 1-1 then it went 2-1 and then it went 3-1 very quickly and at 4-1 the damage had been done.”
The salt was rubbed into the wounds with the late sending off of Stephen Hendrie, who will now be missing for tomorrow’s encounter. But he could be out longer if his replacement hits the ground running.
Gibson added: “I don’t know what he’s said but he must have said something – which again just adds to a miserable day.
“A guy of his experience should have known the game’s gone he just needs to keep his mouth shut.
“Listen I’ve been there with frustration and whatever else but he’s going to be missing next week and if the boys turn it on this week then he loses his place and that’s the thing that can cost an individual.”
