Manager on Friday

01/10/10: JM: "Everybody is behind each other; we don't have anybody sitting on the bench or sitting in the stand wanting someone not to do well so they get the opportunity. It is not like that,

Jim McIntyre stressed the importance of getting off to a good start against Queen of the South on Saturday:-

"We have a decent record down there but we know exactly what we are facing; we know how difficult the games are going to be and if you don't start well how important that is. It can be hard if you lose the first goal so we must approach the game with the same mentality, work as hard as we can and try and get our better players on the ball as early as possible and create chances."

The Manager has a full squad at his disposal with the exception of Greg Paterson and David Graham. Greg is taking longer to recover from his leg break than everyone had hoped but David will be doing some running on Saturday and he is fully expected to be back to join the others in training next week.

"Davie has had a full week of running and he will run before the game tomorrow. It will be great to have him back to bolster the squad because he is an important player. Provided we don't pick anything up on Saturday then apart from Greg we will be back to our full quota which is fantastic. We have been really lucky with injuries this season and the training has been good. We have had that wee bit of luck that you need but I don't want to speak too soon."

Macca didn't want to tempt fate as he observed that injuries always seem to come in the same positions.

"When you get two or three injuries it always seems to be in the one area. Two years ago we had no wingers when they were all injured."

A winning team with competition for places seems to be the dream come true but does even that come with its problems?

"Everybody wants to play; you are not happy if you are not playing but we have got good professionals here who work their backside off everyday. They know that if the team is playing well then they just have to be patient. Credit to the boys who have been outside the team recently that they have remained patient and kept their spirits up. They have played the reserve games and got as much out of that as they can. That is just the nature of the beast with football - if somebody in your position is playing well you just need to bide your time."

The Manager doesn't think that his players can get to a stage of being overly confident.

"I think the reason that we have won as many games is the hard work that we have put into games. You need that bit of luck at the right times but for me the boys have not been complacent at all, they have gone about their business and we have ground out a couple of wins when we haven't passed it as well as we can or started with a high enough tempo. We have eventually dragged it out of ourselves and that is a really good sign for me. There were a lot of games last season where we never did that."

Things have been different this season where three points have been collected where last season it might just have been one. Jim McIntyre puts that down to being ruthless when the chances present themselves.

"Our finishing has been of a high standard; our final ball has been better. Obviously we have had Kirkie on fire, our midfield and Joe Cardle has chipped in with a few - we are getting goals from all areas again which is going to be vitally important. Pat Clarke has weighed in with three crucial goals as well. Steven McDougall has come off the bench, scored in one game and was unlucky not to score last week at Partick but we got the goal through Kirkie.

"The boys are playing their part, the togetherness is very good."  The small squad would appear to have advantages here:-

"Everybody is behind each other; we don't have anybody sitting on the bench or sitting in the stand wanting someone not to do well so they get the opportunity. It is not like that, yes they are desperate to play but also they want to see their team mates doing well. There's full backing in that dressing room whether you are playing or not."