Wullie Gibson admits Queens were left stung by his first defeat since taking the reins in the midweek loss at Partick Thistle but insisted they will bounce back tomorrow at home to Raith.
The Doonhamers were beaten 1-0 by Thistle after Kevin Holt’s late penalty at Firhill and Gibson said: “We have been on a decent run but that has now come to an end so we have to go again. We’ve got a game on Saturday and we need to go and win that,
“But it’s not just about a reaction on Saturday, they’ve also had to react in training. When things are going well the players have a spring in their step, they’re enjoying it, and everyone wants the ball.
“But when things go against you that’s when you need to stand up and be counted.
“Again, we will set demands on the boys, they have been buying into what we are trying to do, and I have no complaints there, so it’s just about going again.”
The interim boss added: “It’s a cliché but every game is a cup final. We didn’t take advantage of our game in hand, we’ve been beaten so the only way to stay in the division is to win games.
“We set challenges daily, and the challenge now is to get back (to winning ways).”
The 37-year-old player-manager told how he is handling the two roles since replacing axed Allan Johnston.
Gibson said: “I will continue to do everything I can.
“For me now the challenge is not only to prepare myself for games, but I have to prepare the other boys as well and I won’t shy away from it.
“We’ve got a long way to go, we haven’t achieved anything yet and Tuesday against Thistle shows that you will lose games, it’s all about how we bounce back. The boys put a lot into the game and worked incredibly hard. We thought at half-time that one goal would do it, you could see that there wasn’t going to be many goals, in tough conditions and with Thistle getting the goal late we just couldn’t find a way back into it.
“It’s really disappointing as I thought a point would’ve been fair.”
It took a penalty to settle the game at Firhill. At the time it looked a soft decision but after reviewing it the Palmerston chief had no complaints.
He admitted: “It’s decisions like that go against us that put us in a tricky position, but I have looked back on it and I think it is a penalty. He is caught on the wrong side and he has put hands on him, so he has given the ref a decision to make.
“Raith Rovers will be hurting having been beaten at home by Ayr. They haven’t been on a good run of form and they need a result just as much as we do so we will be asking a lot of the same players the same question and that’s stand up and be counted.”
The two clubs clash again in the SPFL Trust Trophy at the beginning of next month but Gibson stressed: “We’ve told the players to forget the cup final as we have some massive games in the league and that’s what we need to take care of.
