Queen of the South boss insists club can pull off Great Escape after beating Inverness Caley Thistle

Queens caretaker player boss Wullie Gibson has insisted: The Great Escape is on.

He steered his side to a crucial 2-1 home win over Inverness Caley Thistle to keep the club’s flickering survival hopes alive.

Now Queens tackle bitter rivals Ayr tomorrow afternoon in another vital encounter in the bid to beat the drop.

Gibson said of tomorrow’s tussle with the Honest Men: “If there’s a team that I don’t want to relegate us it’s them.

“I’ll have the boys up and ready for that game.

“It has set it up nicely, hasn’t it?

“It’s going to be tasty. They’ll come down in their numbers, it’s a derby. They’ll want to relegate us, that’s for sure. So the boys need to be prepared for what’s coming because a storm is coming.”

Josh Todd celebrates opening the scoring (SNS Group)

Gibson said of the Inverness triumph: “Going into the match we knew we had to win all three matches.

“We said to the boys that the only one that mattered was tonight as if we didn’t then Saturday’s game would be irrelevant. We’ve ticked that one off and we’ll get ready for Saturday for another massive game.

“I used the word character in the dressing room after the match. After Saturday’s 5-1 defeat to Arbroath I was very critical of the team and myself. Individually and collectively, I felt the boys showed tremendous character tonight.

“I apologised to the guys at half time as I put us in the dung, so to speak, in terms of passing and giving the ball away.

“I like the way we play and I encourage us to play out from the back. That’s the way I want to play. It’s my fault that we gave away the goal but the reaction we got from the boys to get the winner and kick on from there was massive.

“Big Ruben Soares Junior has had one cleared off the line. Innes Cameron has come in and apologised but he can’t buy a goal right
now. I’ve told him Saturday is his day for that against Ayr.

Darragh O'Connor at full-time (SNS Group)

“And with him being a Kilmarnock man he’ll want to get a goal on Saturday. It could’ve been more but if you gave me a scrappy 1-0 win off someone’s backside, I would’ve taken it because that’s what keeps us alive and gives us that little bit of belief. “

Despite a meagre crowd of 631, many stayed behind to give the team a standing ovation and also clapped them as the players returned their applause in respect of their support.

Gibson added: “The fans have been brilliant with me ever since I’ve came back to the club especially when I was put in charge.

“I heard a few grumbles tonight about how we were given up possession and passes etc. That’s why I’m taking training from Monday to Friday. There’s a way I want to play and I don’t want to shell the ball.

“I want to have a go at teams and play the right way. Tonight, you can see that we are a good footballing team. We had to tidy up at the back and we had to dig in at times. Inverness had their fair share of the ball but when you think about clear cut chances I don’t think they had any.

“We showed that side of our game, dug in and picked up second balls and that’s when we started to break away and get on the other side of Inverness and create chances. All the plaudits to the boys for a great win.”