Queen of the South defeated Brechin City in a tightly-fought contest at Palmerston Park to regain their nine point lead at the top of the Second Division table.

A solitary goal from Dan Carmichael on twenty-one minutes was enough to beat third-placed Brechin.

Manager Allan Johnston was pleased his side got back to winning ways after the defeat at Alloa in midweek.

"They kept us going right to the very end but credit to the boys for getting the result.  We should maybe have been a bit more clinical, we had a lot of shots.

"There are no easy games and you could see that with today.

"We had to get a result today.  It was vital that we got the three points today after losing.

"They have a lot of dangerous players, obviously Jackson up front has scored a lot of goals and they caused us problems today again.  They have good players but the boys more than matched them and I think we deserved the win today."

Centre-back and captain Chris Higgins echoed his gaffer`s comments: "We never played as well as we can but the three points are the main thing especially after Tuesday night.  It was a massive game for us and we got the result.

"We’re not going to play well every week but the three points are the most important thing and the results have went our way with Alloa getting beat down at Stranraer so that’s us back to nine points ahead."