Sunday 20th March 2016
DUMBARTON gaffer Stevie Aitken was in sober but determined mood after the 6-0 thrashing his side received from Queen of the South in Dumfries yesterday.
Though the players are hurting from the scale of the defeat, “we have shown in the past and we will need to show again that we can bounce back from defeat and get the results we need moving forward,” the gaffer believes.
He was not hiding his frustration in his post-match press conference, saying: “We are embarrassed. The performance was not good enough.”
Sons have a Saturday off next weekend, thanks to the fixture against Hibernian at Easter Road being moved to the evening of Tuesday 26th April, a few days before the last game of the season away against Alloa Athletic.
The squad and staff will be using that time to prepare for the visit of local rivals Greenock Morton to the Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium on Saturday 2nd April.
Aitken said he “felt for the fans” over the heavy defeat at Palmerston. “But we know we can come back, and everyone needs to pull together to ensure that we do just that.”
Back in January Dumbarton were on the end of a 6-0 beating from Rangers, coming back to win their next match (ironically against Queens in the Scottish Cup) to show what the manager describes as this squad’s “bouncebackability”.
It’s the way you take a setback that shows your true character, he said.
Simon Barrow