Sunday 3rd April 2016
SONS boss Stevie Aitken has praised his players for bouncing back from defeat and grabbing a vital point against Greenock Morton at the Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium yesterday.
Speaking after the game, he declared: “[The players] took a lot of stick for the last game they played, against Queen of the South, losing six goals – and rightly so. They let themselves, the supporters and the club down, and they realise that. I think we saw today that they can turn it round again.
“Both sides created chances… We could have been ahead in the first half from Paul Heffernan, and possibly we should have had a penalty in the second half.
“I thought that in the first half we were a real threat, with Nade and Heffernan causing problems for them. There were a couple of half chances. In the second half we never got going as much, and we tried to make some changes to get that wee spark.
“It was two teams battling it out, and sometimes you get games like that, especially towards the end of the season.
“Overall, to bounce back from that [Queens] defeat is the most pleasing thing for me — against a good Morton side who have been terrific this year.
“We matched them, as we’ve done with a lot of teams this year. People seem to forget that we’re part time up against full time sides.
‘So we’re delighted, and looking forward to the atmosphere of the game [against Rangers at Ibrox] on Tuesday.
The gaffer was not buying a ‘two points dropped’ reading of the game, urging the players and fans to continue to be positive with more crucial matches coming up.
He declared: “Where you are after 36 games is where you deserve to be, and if its by a point that we are still in this division then we will look back on this game and see that point as a positive.
With Livingston drawing against relegated Alloa Athletic, Sons are still two points clear of their rivals with a game in hand.
“Right now we’re battling away, and it’s terrific that we’ve got that point in that situation. It’s definitely a positive.”
On the international break, the boss conceded that it “wasn’t ideal, because we fell off the bike and wanted to get back on it. The players were desperate for another game. But that’s the way it goes. We’ve now got another tough game on Tuesday.”
The game against Rangers at Ibrox on Tuesday 5th April starts at 7.45pm. Tickets for Sons fans will be on sale from the Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium on Monday 4th April from 9.30am.
Simon Barrow