Marvin Bartley is getting ready to savour his first home match as Queen of the South boss this weekend.
The South take on FC Edinburgh at Palmerston looking to build on last week’s 3-1 win away to Peterhead and he’s calling on fans to be the 12th man.
Marvin said: “My message to the fans is to stick with us.
“We’re in transition now at this club. We’ll play football in a different way and with that will come mistakes but they happen in life so it’s part and parcel. Hopefully they will see us playing at a higher tempo, higher intensity and it will take time but stick with us and be the 12th player for us.”
Following the Doonhamers come-from-behind win last week, Bartley almost immediately turned his attention to this upcoming fixture as he continues to adjust to life in the Palmerston hot seat.
He said: “As a player you enjoy the wins and worry about the next game at 2.59pm the next Saturday but as a manager I think I enjoyed it for about 15 minutes and then I was thinking about the next game.
“No wonder I had a few grey hairs growing out of my head this week! The stress levels have gone up a fair bit.
“We’ve done our homework on them. Our training is always based on who we’re playing next, how we can exploit their weaknesses and nullify their strengths.
“But we have to execute that game plan. Training is easy, isn’t it?”
The manager provided an injury update this week on Iain Wilson who has a dead leg but scans have shown it’s not as bad as first feared.
Bartley added: “We’re just trying to get Iain up and moving again. We’re stepping up his cardio on the bike and cross trainer. Time is going to be a healer on that one so as soon as he’s available to train he’ll do so but he’s spending a lot of time with the physio and strength and conditioning coach to keep his cardiovascular topped up.”
