Duffy: We earned maximum points against Queens
Manager Jim Duffy says his squad earned a deserved three points in Saturday’s Ladbrokes Championship clash against Queen of the South.
The Ton edged a tight encounter in front of the BBC Alba cameras, with Ross Forbes’ second-half strike proving enough to claim a 1-0 victory.
Cappielow gaffer Duffy admitted his side were slow to get started but felt their second-half display was worthy of maximum points come full-time.
Speaking exclusively to gmfc.net, he said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the win. It was always going to be a tough game; Queen of the South are very resolute and organised.
“But I felt we dealt with the threat of [Stephen] Dobbie and [Dom] Thomas in particular and [Derek] Lyle and [Dale] Hilson when they came on as well. We managed to negate a lot of their strengths.
“The first half was scrappy and we didn’t play well. I don’t know if it’s the fact we hadn’t played for a week and just looked a bit out of sorts.
“But we managed to calm everybody down at half-time and rejigged it a bit, changing the personnel and changing the system.
“We started with a 4411 with Jamie Lindsay as an advanced midfielder. With his energy we felt he could go and press them a little bit, and he obviously got a goal chopped off but generally it didn’t quite work.
“So we moved Jamie back into midfield, Nizzy [Aidan Nesbitt] through the middle alongside Shanks [Lawrence Shankland], put Doyley [Michael Doyle] at right-back and Ricki [Lamie] on just to give us a little bit more balance.
“I think the players were more comfortable with that and it worked. Once we got the balance right in the second half, we took more control of the game, and we certainly deserved to win.”
The win strengthened Ton’s grip on a Premiership play-off position by moving them 10 points clear of Queens in fifth, but Duffy certainly isn’t counting his chickens with plenty of football still to be played.
He added: “It’s certainly healthy and a good position to be in, but I’ve been in the game long enough to know you can take nothing for granted.
“You only have to look at the Barcelona game to see that if you take something for granted in football it’s at your own peril, so we’ll just keep working away and try and continue to press home our advantage.”
Talisman Forbes netted his 12th of the campaign against the Dumfries outfit, and Duffy credited Ton’s top scorer for the way in which he took his goal.
He added: “It was outstanding, because most people would have thought he was going to cut inside onto his left foot, but he’s disguised it and went down the line.
“Then he’s still managed to get his body shape right. I know it’s taken a wee nick off Jamie Hamill, but it’s still an outstanding piece of skill.
“We had other chances too. The keeper’s made a fantastic shave from Shanks that he tipped over the bar. There was another one when Jamie Lindsay burst into the box and he’s saved with his feet.
“There were one or two goalmouth scrambles, so I just think that in terms of chances created and over the balance of the 90 minutes, we deserved the three points.”
Images: David Bell
