Queen of the South manager Marvin Bartley said Saturday’s performance was the best since he took charge.
The Doonhamers are unbeaten in their last three after a 1-0 win at Palmerston over promotion-chasing Falkirk, with the boss saying that game set the standard moving forward.
Marvin said: “Over the whole game it was the best I have watched them play; however, the hard work doesn’t stop, we need to keep evolving.
“I will keep pushing them and wanting more out of them. It is still the early stages for us, so I won’t get too high or too low, there is still a long way to go so we won’t get too ahead of ourselves.”
He added: “The boys were brilliant, and I feel pressure has been lifted off us because I am constantly on them, but that is because I know they can produce stuff like that.
“They gave everything today, we worked hard on a game plan during the week, and I think that is the best they have implemented since I have been here.
“It wasn’t just about individuals it was as a collective group, they were fantastic, I have talked about wanting them to be ruthless in both boxes and they did that.
“I know if we get fitter and stronger, we can produce that on a more consistent basis, consistency is a key thing.
“The tempo was high, they are tired because they gave everything.”
The manager has been critical of his squad at times since he took on the job but said they were worthy of praise after the performance which was decided by a Coll Donaldson own goal.
He said: “Sometimes I am hard on them, but I will speak them up because as a squad they were in it together today and we need to kick on from here.
“That is three games unbeaten, two wins and a draw. It’s about the best use of players that we have at the club, and they have done it against a team second in the league who are coming off the back of a good result in the cup, so if they can do it against them, they can do it against anybody.
“It’s about raising your standards, week in week out. It was a delight to watch them play today.”
He said: “I want a dilemma. I’m a manager for a reason because these dilemmas are fantastic. Some are coming back but I’ve always said if you work hard, you have a chance of playing.”
