Duffy: We can compete with anyone on our day

Manager Jim Duffy reckons results against Ladbrokes Championship form clubs St Mirren and Dunfermline show his side can compete with anyone in the division ahead of a tricky trip to Queen of the South.

When asked for his thoughts on this weekend’s fixture at Palmerston, Duffy said:

“Queen of the South is another extremely difficult match. Every week in this league every match is so difficult to call.

“Queen of the South have made a very positive start to the season and have plenty of goals in them, plenty of firepower.

“We know that on our day we can compete with anyone, we’ve shown that with the terrific results against the likes of St Mirren and Dunfermline there.

“They are two teams who are flying high, and we’ve not just managed to win those games but also create a good number of chances in those games.

“We’ve also also had our off days, so what we’ve shown is that we have the ability but we have to get that continuity about the team.”

Gary Harkins and Jai Quitongo both came off the bench to score in last Saturday’s 3-2 win against Dunfermline Athletic, but Duffy admits that is not a major consideration when it comes to team selection for tomorrow:

“We look at a number of things. Obviously you look at the players during the week at training, see who’s looking sharp, who’s a little bit off the pace.

“You look at the opposition, and see their strengths and weaknesses and whether you can combat that.

“Also, you look at confidence in players. So don’t get me wrong, if players go on and make an impact, they should be brimming with confidence. here are elements of that.

“There are elements of that [when it comes to team selection] but you have to treat each game individually.

“It’s not about looking at last week and saying: ‘Oh, everything went well’ – because it doesn’t automatically click again.”

Image: David Bell