Plenty of positives for Annan

Jul 16 2008 by Craig Robertson, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

HENRY McClelland insists the 5-0 defeat to Queen of the South is no disgrace.

The Annan Athletic chairman watched his SFL new-boys being served a huge slice of reality during the friendly match at Galabank on Saturday. But he believes Annan can take a lot from match against the beaten Scottish Cup finalists.

He told the Standard: “This was a Queen of the South team mainly made up of players who held Rangers, who themselves were UEFA Cup finalists, in the Scottish Cup final for a large part of that match.

“There was a lot of quality out there but I felt we had a good first 45 minutes and that we held Queens very well. “Unfortunately we lost a couple of quick goals at the start and the end of the second half and that finished us off.

“We have to remember that in the third division we will not be playing teams who have the quality of Queen of the South so I think there is positives to take from this match in that respect.”

Manager Harry Cairney returned from holiday this week and McClelland is certain his gaffer will ring the changes in the side. He said: “Harry has a list of players he wants to look at bringing and we’ve also had guys contacting the club saying they would be interested in coming to Annan.

“I think the fact that we are a new side in the league on a fresh start will be an attraction to some players.

“Right now we have five players signed up on SFL contracts, the rules state we are allowed 22 on SFL contracts over the age of 21 and unlimited players under 21.

“So I would expect the team that went out on Saturday will be significantly strengthened before we start the season.”