Summer signing Bryan Wharton is hoping to help Queen’s Park continue their good run when they face Montrose at the Excelsior Stadium on Saturday.
The third-placed Spiders are one of three teams in League 2 locked on 13 points – with Albion Rovers and tomorrow’s opponents the others.
The former Shotts Bon Accord defender said: “I have started the last three games and it is good to be given a chance. Winning the three of them is a bonus but it is not about me, it is about the team.”
Wharton helped Gus MacPherson's side start their run off with the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Berwick Rangers and the 24-year-old added: "In my first start I got my first goal - even if it was a hit and a hope into the far corner but the clean sheet was more important."
That success was followed by a William Hill Scottish Cup win at Gretna 2008 and a League 2 victory at East Stirlingshire last weekend.
Wharton said: “Our recent results have increased the belief that is in the squad. We were a new side at the start of the season - a lot of us knew each other from playing against each other at Junior level but that is different to being team-mates.
“There is a jump in class from the Junior game and you have to increase your fitness levels to help with it. There is not just one thing that you can say is different but everything has to be done a lot sharper.”
Wharton, who has a record of seven wins from eight fights in his other career as a Muay Thai boxer, is not getting carried away by either his own recent success or that of his team.
He said: "I am delighted to have made the move. I have personal targets to achieve but the head coach sets team targets and hitting them increases confidence. We just want to finish the season as high as we can but no-one has mentioned the play-offs as we stick to one game at a time.
"We have Montrose this weekend and that will be a tough game, and probably tougher as we are on a decent run and are a target. I know a couple of their players and they will be keen to beat us but if we can keep our standards high then we can do well."
"It is good that I have a starting jersey just now but it is about team targets. A clean sheet will start as a target for us all against Montrose and we will build from there."
Wharton and his team-mates will return to Queen's Park's National Stadium home early in 2015 after more than a year away due to the Commonwealth Games.
He added: "It is getting closer all the time to us going back to play at Hampden. Having that as your home park is terrific, and I am looking forward to it, but we have all been warned that visiting teams take a lift from playing there as well.
“We are back at Lesser Hampden for training at the end of this month and that is another bonus and saves us all getting into a mini bus and heading to Toryglen."
Craig Stewart
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