Smith So Proud Of His Men

Mar 30 2008

STAND-IN boss Andy Smith has told the Gretna players they can safeguard their football careers if they keep playing the way they did at Love Street.

Smith heaped praise on his squad for shrugging off their personal worries about the future and giving St Mirren a run for their money.

He said: "Relegation isn't so much of a disappointment because that was done and dusted after we had the 10-point deduction for going into administration.

"The big disappointment is we lost the game. We gave away two poor goals but had at least as many chances as Saints."

The fact the administrator had axed all but one young striker came back to haunt a team forced to play with two midfielders up front.

Smith added: "We lack a goal threat in the final third of the pitch.

"If we'd had a natural finisher in the last two or three gameswe would have taken points.

"But for the next seven games the players' job is to impress any other managers who may be watching.

They did that against Saints."

Long-serving defender Gavin Skelton (below) who has been with Gretna for seven years said: "My main hope is that there is a club in the future for the fans.

"Relegation isn't nice and no player wants that on their CV but to be honest that has taken a bit of a back seat in what you could call the week from hell.

"On Tuesday at training coach Iain Scott had to call a halt and tell us there would be redundancies.

"To say the session died a bit after that would be the understatement of the year. We weren't exactly flying from then on.

"We've got our careers to play for now and we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

"Whatever the future holds for us it would be nice to think the club will still be in existence for the fans."

St Mirren's win signalled the end of the SPL line for Gretna but it also ensured top-flight survival for the Saints.

Boss Gus MacPherson said: "Winning was vital but I was never worried about our safety."