BY IAIN COLLIN – Capital City Press
Chris Higgins insists he is delighted Boxing Day has come early for Queen of the South as they bid to fight their way out of their dismal run.
The Doonhamers host Morton this afternoon in a Championship clash originally scheduled for December 26, but brought forward because both clubs had been knocked out of the Petrofac Training Cup.
And, after seven games without a victory, the Queens skipper is desperate to prove it was the right decision by unwrapping three points for the first time August 22.
He said: “We’ve not won for a few weeks now, so we’re looking to get back on track as soon as possible.
“It’s maybe good that we’ve not got the free weekend that a lot of teams have got, so we can try and get that win.
“We’ve all worked hard in training this week, there’s been a good tempo, and hopefully that moves on to Saturday.
“This is the third time we’ll have played Morton this season, and all of them at home as well. They’re a good side, they’ve come up and done well, Jim Duffy’s got them organised well and they’ve got good players.
“So, we know it will be a tough game. They beat us in the cup and we drew in the league, but hopefully this time we can get the first goal, which is so important in the Championship, and then build on that.
“After last Saturday’s game all the boys were desperate to get a game as quickly as possible, and it would have been disappointing to go into a free weekend.
“As a player, when the team doesn’t do well, you’re desperate to get that game as quickly as possible so you can go and rectify things, and I’m sure the boys are looking forward to this game to go and do that.”
Queens landed themselves a shot at promotion via the play-offs last season, falling at the first hurdle against Rangers, but underwent massive changes to that squad in the summer with the departure of half a dozen first-team regulars.
However, after the new-look Palmerston Park outfit began the campaign with three consecutive league victories, Higgins insists the turnover of players cannot be used as a defence for their current run.
He added: “We weren’t using the excuse that we needed to gel at the start of the season when we were winning.
“It’s maybe just down to individual errors. We’re possibly not concentrating as much as we should or not working as hard as we should.
“We just need to do our individual jobs that wee bit better.”
@IainCollin
