Queen’s Park head coach Gus MacPherson is hoping the recent defeat to Albion Rovers was just a blip in what has been a successful season so far.
The Spiders went down 1-0 to Darren Young’s men a fortnight ago but recovered to beat Clyde 2-0 at Broadwood last weekend and welcome East Stirlingshire to the Excelsior Stadium on Saturday.
MacPherson said: “It was good to bounce back and it was important that we did. We deserved to win in what was a tough game and Clyde had opportunities to hurt us.
“Winning was important as Arbroath and Albion Rovers were not playing in the league last weekend. If we had dropped points it would have given them a boost before they played on Tuesday. As things turned out, they dropped points in midweek so we are still sitting in second place.
“It was great that the players reacted so positively after losing to Albion Rovers to end our unbeaten run. Mind you, I should not have been surprised by this group. They lost three of their first four games when they got together at the start of the season but bounced back really well.
“We are back at home with East Stirling this weekend. We played well at their place and won 3-1 earlier in the season but it took us until the third minute of injury time to secure the game. They are on a good run and have been boosted by having some senior players available again after injury.
“They have built up an undefeated three-game run and will be looking forward to this game with a bit of momentum behind them. By all accounts, they could have defeated East Fife last weekend and will fancy this game as well. They have hit a good standard recently and they will be looking to hit that again and defeat us.
“Luke Donnelly is a fine player who the Shire managed to get in on loan from Celtic. I have seen him develop over recent seasons after first spotting him in a Glasgow Cup Final at U17 level against Rangers. He is a talented kid who started this season at right-back but has been pushed up to midfield and up front.”
Meanwhile, MacPherson has praised John Carter for his efforts since stepping up from Greenock Juniors.
He said: “John took a while to adjust to playing at this level but he kept coming in and training hard. He was disappointed at how things were going but he remained determined to show people what he could do.
“He got a start up at Arbroath and has stayed in our team ever since and we were delighted when he got his first goal recently. John must be a really annoying player to play against as he just keeps picking himself up. I have seen a few challenges going in against him that are designed to put him off his game but he just gets up and gets on with things.
“Some opponents may think they are getting the better of him but he just comes back for more. I am glad I don’t have to play against him as I would be on a yellow card by half-time!”
Craig Stewart
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