Jim McIntyre insists his team should be proud of themselves despite losing 1-0 to Dundee yesterday.
Saturday’s defeat ended a 5 game unbeaten run for the Palmerston side but the Gaffer is adamant the game could have gone either way if Queens were left with 10 men on the park after Jim Atkinson’s dismissal.
McIntyre said: “I think the fact it changed the game is a no-brainer, it’s right on half time and it’s a kick in the teeth with a sending off and a penalty which they go on to score.
“It makes it an uphill struggle but I’ve got to credit the players as we’ve been on a fantastic run, we gave it a real go and we had Dundee worried at times.
“I think with 10 men against the league leaders after you lose a man for 45 minutes you can’t ask for much more.
“I thought we were excellent in the second half in terms of our commitment.
“We had two or three chances and when you’re down to ten men you need to take them.
“I said to the players you’d get a chance and when we did get it we’d have to take it, as that would give the legs a little bit of extra energy and a little bit of belief.”
McIntyre also defended his substitutions as the blues bravely looked to pull back an equaliser in the second half against the league leaders.
He said: “We knew we would be susceptible to the counter attack at times and it panned out that way but there was no way we were going to sit back.
“We made two forward thinking substitutes early days and we had a right go at it.
“On another day Derek Lyle sticks his chance away and Iain Russell’s shot hits the bar and goes over the line so I’m disappointed we didn’t get a point.”
Dundee boss Paul Hartley was proud of his team and was glad to leave Palmerston with three points as the Dens Park side have struggled in recent years when visiting Dumfries.
Hartley said: “I’m delighted with the three points, we don’t have a great record down here and the points are very important.
“Queens had some chances but I felt like we deserved it.”
Queens remain fourth in the table ahead of next week’s away trip to Falkirk.