Queen of the South boss praises threadbare squad for Falkirk draw

Queens boss Marvin Bartley hailed his threadbare squad for their battling display to claim a point against title favourites Falkirk.

The depleted Doonhamers had another four players sidelined through injury or illness, forcing Bartley to
reshuffle his team yet again, and they responded in style during the thrilling 1-1 draw.

He said: “It was an entertaining game for the fans, but my heart rate was up and down.

“The players are getting their breaths back after putting in all that hard work.

“We conceded and had to deal with the adversity, and they did that, and to a man they were brilliant. We were down to the bare bones, but I’ve told them to keep working hard.”

Despite a dreadful run of results with only one home league win this term plus a huge injury list, Bartley insisted his side refused to buckle and responded with tough shifts.

He said: “There is no time for heads to drop.

“I’ve said to the players that they won’t be defined by the mistakes they make, it will be by their reaction and there is a vital lesson to be learned.

“It’s about getting on with things, keep going and keep believing. We created enough chances and if there was going to be a winner, I think it was going to be us.

“I’ve just said to them, that team is top of the league, so it shows when you are down to the bare bones what we do have, but there is a level of performance and level of effort that you have to maintain in football and life to be successful.”

Bartley pointed to the casualty count at Palmerston and praised the replacements adding: “They are running on empty because they have been thrown in when they probably shouldn’t have been.

“Kyle McClelland, coming back from injury, was out there for 90 minutes because we