Stenny test next

PETER Murphy believes winning big against Peterhead was the perfect response following back-to-back defeats.

And now he has challenged his Queen of the South side to continue their good form against Stenhousemuir this Saturday.

Last weekend the Doonhamers ran out deserved 4-0 winners at Palmerston in their League One fixture against the Blue Toon.

The manager heaped praise on his players after they picked up the three points off the back of losing to Hamilton, in the league, and East Kilbride, in the Challenge Cup.

Murphy said: “(Today, against Peterhead,) I think the players made a statement that they are a good team.

“I’m not looking too much into the Tuesday night game. But in the Hamilton game I think we really let ourselves down, we were well below par and Hamilton were very good on the day.

“Today we did what Hamilton did to us last week. We scored goals at the right times, enjoyed our football, played some really good stuff and looked like we could score at will.

“It was a good statement to make; but it’s only a statement for one week – let’s see what happens next weekend.

“It’s up to us to be the best that we can be week-in, week-out and we can’t drop below that.”

Up next is a trip to Stenhousemuir in the league, Murphy added: “(Stenhousemuir) did really well last year. They got a good result today as well. They’re a very well organised, good and efficient side.”

And it is a quick turnaround as Clyde visit Palmerston on Tuesday night for match-day two of the Challenge Cup.

The manager said: “I think the other night showed that our younger players maybe aren’t ready for the East Kilbride League Two level yet.

“We play against Clyde next and a couple of younger teams. We’ll see how that develops but the league is the most important thing.”

Murphy said, with the luxury of not having a midweek fixture, this week would be about rest and potentially some talks regarding new signings.

He said: “As a manager you want to sign everybody. But we have to be very cute about our business. We have a couple of co-operation loans that we can maybe still get in.

“There’s still meetings that I need to have with the higher echelons at the club to see where we’re at.”