Queen of the South boss praises squad for fighting to make a contribution

Queen of the South boss Marvin Bartley has praised his entire squad for fighting to make a contribution for the team.

Substitute Lee Connelly came off the bench to score the winner with the manager acknowledging that everyone is dying to start in the business end of the season.

He said: “Players go on and there’s an element of frustration and they’ll be frustrated at me but go on and show why you should be starting and in the last two weeks that’s happened.

“It’s a squad game. No team is ever successful with just 11 players, this is a squad game and to be part of the squad you have to contribute, we’ll carry no passengers.

“You can either go on and contribute or get off the bus. People are going on the pitch and contributing which is fantastic.”

And the team will be fighting for a starting place tomorrow as Queens look to cut the gap on their opponents Alloa Athletic down to three points in the race for the play-offs.

A win for Queens would be their fourth on the spin, something the club last achieved in March 2021.

Bartley insisted his squad wasn’t looking at the run of form to spur them on.

He said: “The motivation is putting on the shirt for this football club.

“The motivation is being a professional footballer – you shouldn’t need to be motivated to go out and win a game of football.

“We’re paid to do that, I’m paid to make sure we do, and players are paid to go out execute game-plans. But it is nice to hit that milestone to win three games in a row.

“It shouldn’t have taken this long to be honest but it has and the players have done it so they deserve a massive pat on the back.

“But what’s better than winning three games in a row? Winning four games so let’s go on a run.”

He added: “It’s