ONE MAN BANNED
Naysmith: Much more to Queens than lethal Dobbie
GARY NAYSMITH knows goal machine Stephen Dobbie is the first to credit his Queen of the South team-mates for their part in his staggering success.
He just wishes the rest of Scottish football would see it too as the Doonhamers hero closes in on a club scoring record that has stood since 1932.
In-form Dundee United’s visit to Palmerston today will pose arguably the toughest test in the division as Naysmith reckons even their reserve team would be strong enough to compete in the top half of the Championship.
But as much as United have strength in depth, they don’t possess the firepower that Queens boast in Dobbie.
Having netted 38 times in 32 games, the 36-year-old hitman is just four shy of breaking the record for the most goals scored in one season by a Queens player – set first by Jimmy Rutherford 87 years ago and equalled by Nicky Clark in 2013.
But more important to boss Naysmith – and Dobbie for that matter – is the collective success of the team striving for a shot at promotion through the play-offs as they gear up for a pivotal four-game run that could make or break their chances.
Naysmith said: “Stephen is the first to acknowledge what everybody does round about him for the team.
“This is the best goalscoring run of his career so all of us have to be doing something right to contribute to that – the coaches, the players and Stephen himself.
“He is the first to recognise that but I do feel for the players when we get reflected as a one-man band.
“We have one of the smallest budgets in the league so to be sitting above some clubs is an achievement in itself.
“If Stephen scores 50 goals or if he breaks the club record there will be no one happier for him than his team-mates because we are all in it together.
“I never played with someone as prolific as that. Even at Everton we were always midtable pushing to get involved around the top so we never had a 20-goals-a-season striker.
“We have the best striker in the league so it would be silly not to set the team up to accommodate him but sides are becoming wary of how we play.
“We’ve been working on other options if we have to change formations in the last few weeks.”
United will arrive in Dumfries high in confidence after comfortably disposing of Premiership opposition in last week’s Scottish Cup clash with St Mirren.
But Queens were no slouches themselves at Aberdeen when yet another Dobbie strike had them on level pegging after 60 minutes before falling 4-1.
Naysmith added: “United are the biggest club in the league. If you put their reserve team in the Championship they’d win more games than they’d lose. That shows their strength in depth. But we go into this match with a lot of positives from the Dons game.”