MORTON 1 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 2 Morton assistant manager Allan McManus bemoaned a lack of mental toughness in the Morton side after this defeat at Cappielow on Saturday.

He said: "In the first half I thought we played some really good stuff and, again, we didn't take our chances.

"We still went one-nil up. You would think the boys would understand how we were getting the joy.

"In the second half, all credit to Queens - they upped their game, but we did just the opposite of how we got our joy in the first half.

"We're really disappointed with the manner of the second half performance. It's a tough one to take considering the first half, when we weren't under any presure whatsoever and you can see the way we're trying to play the game.

"It's a sore one to take. All credit to Queens, but we have to be better than that. It's something we need to look at.

"We are creating numerous chances and not taking them, but at the other end we've lost some soft goals.

"In the second half we just didn't turn up. We need to be more mentally strong, tough.

"Yes, in the first half we've passed the ball well. In the second half Queens have made it harder for us, so it then beomes a battle.

"You have to stop them getting a foothold in the game, and then earn the right to get the ball and play again.

"The more individual battles you win, the more chance you have of winning as a team.

"Personally, I didn't think we turned and, as I say, all credit to Queens and it's back to the drawing board. But with January coming round we'll need to start looking at freshening things up." Queen of the South boss Gordon Chisholm felt the win was a testament to the character of his side after going behind to a Peter Weatherson goal in 23 minutes.

He said: "We worked hard for it. I think it showed character.

"I thought Morton started very well. They were knocking the ball about and putting us under a good bit of pressure and, to be fair, young Davie Hutton has pulled off a couple of tremendous saves.

"The character comes when you are a goal down and you have to get a foothold back in the game. I thought we did that.

"We worked hard and we got that second goal - a great strike from big Derek Holmes.

"He said as soon as it left his boot he knew it was going in. I thought it was going just wrong side of the post from where I was standing.

"It's a hard place to come. We knew it was going to be a hard game, a battle." There was special mention of big Marvin Andrews who was making his debut on a short-term deal. "He did great and he showed good composure as well.A couple of times balls were going through and he just ushered it back to the keeper.

"We're delighted to have him on board, but I just thought the boys did well. They worked hard and, at the end of the day, we got the three points."