The Third Division is in line for a cracking weekend with the ‘Gang of Four’ at the top of the tree all facing each other with second placed Stranraer hosting leaders Alloa and long-time pace-setters Annan welcoming a Queen’s Park side that hit Elgin for six last weekend to announce their Title intentions for 2012.
It is certainly a case of Little things meaning a lot for the Hampden men with the Spiders’ skipper Ricky Little laying down a marker for his team-mates ahead of the clash at Galabank saying, “We are capable of winning the League and whilst the play-offs would be great the Title is what we are after.”
“Our aim at the start of the season was to win it and whilst we have had a few ups and downs we still want to hit that target.”
Little has established himself at the heart of the Queen’s defence over the past 3 and a half years after moving across Glasgow from Partick Thistle, although he is Ayrshire and not Glasgow built player.
“I started off my career in Boys Club football for Ardrossan Winton Rovers,” said Little before adding, “And I played with them up until under-19 apart from one year when I was 12 and played for Ayr. I played for them in midfield before reverting to defending when I went back to Ardrossan.”
“The Rovers are tied to the Junior club of the same name and in my final season there I was playing for the Junior first team on the Saturday and the Boys Club on the Sunday.”
The form being displayed by Little during his double shifts started attracting scouts and Queen of the South and Partick were soon hot on his tail.
Little said, “I was on trial with both of them and then trained full time with Queen of the South as they were going to offer me a YTS place. However that fell through and I moved on to Thistle. Gardner Speirs was the assistant manager there at the time and obviously that was to prove useful later on.”
The now 22-year-old made his Thistle debut in April 2008 in a 1-0 success over Stirling Albion and followed that up with another start and a substitute appearance however, he failed to start the next season in the Jags’ starting XI and took the opportunity to go on loan to Hampden to get game time.
Little said, “It was a bit of a double edged sword at Partick as you were learning from good experienced players like Alan Archibald and John Robertson but they kept you out of the team. I went on loan to Queen’s where of course Gardner was now in charge and played for 11 games at right back.”
“I went back to Partick and hoped to force myself into the team, however they were chasing promotion that season and were running St. Johnstone close so I never really got a look in although I did play the last 20 minutes of the season as a substitute at Dundee.”
Despite his lack of action at Firhill, Little was given an extended deal as he explained, “I was actually the only YTS player kept on but again I could not force myself into the first team. I went back to Hampden in the November and basically I have remained there ever since. Once my loan deal was over I signed for them permanently.”
It was an easy choice as Little said, “I love it at Queen’s Park as they look after their players really well. The way we are treated is amazing especially when you consider they are a Third Division amateur side.”
“Knowing Gardner has obviously been a help and it really is a good bunch of boys that are there although it has been a bit quieter in the past couple of weeks. Our under-19 side join in with the first team squad for training on a Wednesday night to help them prepare for the first team but they have been off on their Leonardo da Vinci trip in Turkey but they will back in and making noise again next week.”
The permanent Little occupies a different position to the on-loan Little with the now central defender saying, “The twice I was on loan I played at right back and I never got moved into the central position until our Club captain Richard Sinclair was injured.”
“When I started to play there Paul McGinn came in and blossomed at right back and things have just stayed that way. I enjoy playing there and young Paul has never looked back since he came into the team.”
Little was partnered initially with the youth of Jamie Brough and then the experience of Andy Millen at the back and he said, “They are at different stages of their careers but they are both good players to play alongside. I thought when Andy came in that I would have to change my game and do all the running and he would take care of winning headers but that is not how it turned out.”
“I did not have to do much more running than I had with Jamie as Andy simply read the game amazingly well. He also just talks to you constantly and tells you were to stand so you ended up so well positioned that you could take things in your stride.”
The now Queen of the South assistant manager left a lasting impression with Little adding, “I learnt more from Andy on the pitch in the few months he was here than I have from any other player. He did a lot for me and the other guys in our defence.”
One thing Millen did do was to encourage Little to venture forward and try shots from distance and it worked to great effect when the Hampden side were 3-1 down to Stranraer in a home game last March.
Little did as he was instructed and sent home a fine shot from nearly 30 yards out to register his first Senior goal and Jamie Longworth struck before the end to earn a point that was to prove vital in the ultimately successful hunt for a play-off place.
“I tried a couple more shots in the next game and it is something I am always looking to do however I have not been able to add to my tally,” said Little.
Whilst Little is wearing the German flag armband that Queen’s Park captains wear due to the tie up the club has with Wattenschied 09 he knows that he has a dressing room of skippers ready to back him up.
Little said, “Richard is the captain of the club and there is also Tony Quinn who is our most experienced player but he has been out with injury for a couple of months now. I enjoy the role in their absence and it was great when Gardner had faith in me to give me the job last season. There are a lot of captains in our squad with the likes of Jamie or Martin McBride always keen to take responsibility as well.”
“It is no wonder that players want to be the captain of Queen’s Park as you get to lead your team out at Hampden every fortnight and that is a great experience. It was also great to stand in the tunnel at Fir Park alongside the Motherwell captain Stephen Craigan the other week when we played each other in the Scottish cup. Despite the score-line that was a great experience.”
The Steelmen defeated the Spiders 4-0 but no-one should be taken in by the score with Little saying, “We played really well in that game but the difference between the sides was that they finished clinically and we didn’t. It might have been nerves but we had chances that we would normally have taken.”
The scoring touch returned in fine style last weekend as half a dozen goals were scored past Elgin without reply with Longworth grabbing 4 in a row in the second half. The striker’s exploits meant that Martin McBride’s thunderous free kick and Craig Smith’s well placed header hardly got a mention this week.
Little said, “Whilst we did not score against Motherwell, everything Jamie hit in the second half last Saturday seemed to go in. I played against him when I was in the Juniors and he had a reputation then aged only 20 for goalscoring and it is great to have him in my team now.”
“He made it look easy and getting his first goal perhaps lifted all the pressure after the Motherwell game.”
Little and his team-mates are off to Annan and no-one needs to tell Little that it will be a tough task to get the three points and climb into third spot with the skipper saying, “This is a massive game, in fact the next few games are massive. We were well beaten down there at the start of the season and they are a really hard team down on their patch but we will be looking to get the right result.”
