Thursday 7th April 2016
DUMBARTON manager Stevie Aitken has praised his side for their ‘outstanding’ performance at Ibrox on Tuesday night.
The narrow loss to Rangers meant that the Glasgow side were crowned SPFL Championship winners with four games to go.
For Dumbarton, it’s a case of ‘as you were’ after Livingston also lost at Easter Road against Hibernian and the battle to remain in the division goes on.
Aitken felt that the build up to the game was difficult, and speaking in a busy press area after the match, he said:
“A lot of my players were working 10 hour shifts to try and get here on time for the game.
“I was listening to the football phone in on Monday night and there was talk about us losing by 6 or 7 goals and I thought that was a bit disrespectful.”
The Sons Boss felt, however, that his squad dealt with the challenge well. He said:
“To a man, our players were outstanding.
“We worked extremely hard and came up against a really good side.”
With just four games to go in the division for most clubs – Dumbarton have five – Aitken is ready for the test that lies ahead as he added:
“We can’t affect what happens elsewhere. Livingston losing means it’s another game out the road and our aim is try to stay in the Championship.
“For us and Alloa it was always going to be difficult – two part-time sides in a competitive league. Credit has to go to our players for staying 15 points ahead of them.
“It’s a fight to the line but if the players keep giving me what they have given me tonight, then hopefully next year we’ll still be in the Championship.”
The Sons are next in action on Tuesday 12th April when Queen of the South visit the Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium.
Jack Crawford