Battling draw gives Ferrie fresh optimism

Calum Ferrie believes struggling Queen’s Park’s battling goalless draw against title challengers Dundee United can turn their season around.

The Spiders remain bottom of the Championship and without a win in their last 13 league games after Friday night’s stalemate with United at Hampden.

But goalkeeper Ferrie is confident better times lie ahead for managerless Queens if they can replicate the dogged defending they displayed against Jim Goodwin’s side.

“The important thing for us is that it’s a point on the board,” said Ferrie. “At times like this, performances don’t matter as much as results.

“What I saw from the boys against Dundee United was more like what I know we are capable of as a team.

“The grit, determination and desire to keep a clean sheet was outstanding. That’s so important in our situation. I really feel this result can be a turning point for us.

“The chances will come and the wins will come if we keep working as hard as we did against United.”

Paul Nuijten remains in charge of Queen’s Park after the dismissal of Robin Veldman as head coach two weeks ago.

“The coaching staff deserve a lot of credit,” added Ferrie. “They have worked really hard on making us more solid and in stopping us conceding poor goals. Now it’s down to us to build on that.”

It was a frustrating night for United who passed up the opportunity to regain ground on title rivals Raith Rovers who also dropped two points in a 4-4 draw at home to Ayr United.

But Tangerines’ wing-back Liam Grimshaw is sure they will recover from a sticky spell which has seen them win just once in their last five games in all competitions.

“We dominated the game against Queen’s Park and created some chances but just didn’t have that quality in the final third when we needed it,” said Grimshaw. “It’s disappointing but it’s another point on the board.

“It would have been nice to take advantage of Raith dropping points at home to Ayr and close that gap.

“But we can only focus on what we do ourselves. If we do what we know we can do, then I’m pretty hopeful we will be where we deserve to be at the end of the season.

“There is no point in worrying about what Raith are doing. It’s still only December and it’s down to what we do.”