Queen of the South kept their 16 point lead at the top of the Second Division intact as they were held to a 0-0 draw at Palmerston by second-placed Alloa Athletic.

Alloa centre-back Ben Gordon`s header against the crossbar on 30 minutes was the closest either team came to scoring as both defences came out on top on a sunny afternoon in Dumfries.  The home side huffed and puffed but could not blow the Alloa defence down as Nicky Clark and Derek Lyle were continually frustrated by their opponents and Ryan McGuffie saw a header cleared off the line.

Manager Allan Johnston was full of praise for the defending of the Alloa players: “It was an edgy game out there, both teams were a bit cagey but overall I thought we were the better team but there wasn`t much in it.  Chances were few and far between, they were throwing bodies in the way, stopping shots and it was good defending from their point of view.

“We expected them to come and have a real go to be honest but they seemed to set up to come and frustrate us rather than attack us.

“We`ve got to be better in the final third. This year we`ve had really high standards, especially attacking-wise, and we know we can improve but it was bobbly out there.”

Club captain Chris Higgins was happy to maintain the lead at the top of the table: “We want to win the league, we don`t want to give anybody any encouragement.  Today, if Alloa win that there`s still 13 points in it but it gives them some encouragement so at the end of the day it`s not a bad result for us. 

"Obviously we would have liked to have won but we`re still 16 points clear and we don`t want anyone to get any ground on us.  We want to win the league as quick as we can but the league will take care of itself if we do the business on a Saturday.”

Allan Johnston has been linked recently with the vacant manager`s job at Partick Thistle but when asked was quick to reaffirm his commitment to Queens.

“I`m not on my way anywhere, we have a lot to look forward to here.  Hopefully we can go on and win the league and we have a cup final to look forward to as well.  Hopefully Queen of the South are going places.”