Saturday 1st October 2016
DARREN BARR has already spent too long on the sidelines for his liking this season.
And it’s now even reached the stage where even a rib injury can’t put him back there.
The Dumbarton skipper played the full 90 minutes of today’s game with Queen of the South despite a tough time with rib pain.
But it was worth the effort as Sons held the league leaders to a goalless draw.
Darren now hopes that his team can progress from that result ahead of a huge game at home to Ayr United in a fortnight’s time.
He said: “I don’t know if it’s cracked. My ribs are killing me, but I managed to come through the game.
“I’ve already missed a few games this season and don’t want to miss any more.
“It’s a good point for us. We were unlucky not to get the breaks here and there in front of goal, but that will come.
“I think we’d have taken a draw before the game, but you always want to be positive.
“It’s good to get a clean sheet and now we have the international break, we can brush up on one or two elements of our game that we need to work on.”
Even after less than a quarter of the season, Sons already know how close the league is going to be.
While they were holding Queens, Ayr and Dunfermline drew 0-0, while bottom side St Mirren also took a point from a 1-1 draw at home to Falkirk in a later kick-off.
And Darren admits that with the Championship being so well contested, Sons will need to keep an eye on scores elsewhere.
He added: “Hopefully we can build on the point we’ve gained. Queen of the South are a good side and it was not an easy game.
“We just need to kick on from there. We have some good players in there, we just need to get the breaks going forward.
“We have to have belief when we play Ayr United after the international break. We don’t feel we are far away from our next win.
“There are many teams picking up points from each other roundabout us. Ayr drew with Dunfermline today.
“Anybody can take points off anybody else. We need to keep defending right and doing our homework, keeping an eye on the other teams.”
Andy Galloway