‘Sorry’ Martin banned after gesture to Queens fans

Queen of the South goalkeeper Alan Martin has apologised after being handed an internal one - match suspension and fined for making an unsavoury gesture towards fans.

The former Scotland Under -21 internationalis ti sunder stood to have made his feelings clear towards Do on ham ers supporters as he left the pitch at half-time as Gary Naysmith’s side slipped to a seventh straight loss to Inverness on 9 March.

Martin was replaced by Jack Leighfield at the interval and the club have taken action after completing their own investigation.

A club statement read: “Following an internal investigation into events surrounding the incident involving Alan Martin during our game against Inverness Ca led on ian Thistle, we can confirm that aone-matchs uspension and a fine was imposed by the club.

“The club are now satisfied that this matter has been dealt with and would like to draw a line under it. We need to stick together and back the team for the remainder of the season.”

Martin, who would have sat out Saturday’ sclash with Ayr United had it not been postponed, admits he regrets his actions.

He said :“I would like to publicly apologise to everyone concerned, the supporters, the directors, the manager and my team-mates.

“I know what I did was unacceptable and it shouldn’t have happened. I fully accept the punishment the club have imposed.

“To clarify, I had been receiving personal abuse during the pre-match warm-up, during the game and at half-time, and frustration got the better of me. But there is no excuse for what I did and I shouldn’t have reacted.

“I would have apologised before now, but felt that it wasn’t appropriate ahead of such a big game.

“Our full focus had to be on the match and I wanted to give Jack my full support and make sure that we were fully prepared for Ayr.”