Dick Campbell heaped the praise on his Arbroath players for their ‘amazing spirit’ as the Angus side moved out of the relegation zone.
But the Arbroath boss revealed the Dale Hilson-inspired win over Queen’s Park came after he gave his players a training ground dressing down for their ‘unacceptable performance’ in the 1-1 draw with Morton last Friday.
Campbell was furious as Lichties underperformed last week, with hero keeper Derek Gaston producing a stunning late penalty stop to deny Morton a win.
It was a different story on Friday though as Lichties overtook Cove Rangers in eighth by beating Championship leaders Queen’s Park.
“That’s a proper Dick Campbell team and how dare anyone write us off,” said the Arbroath boss.
What a win for @ArbroathFC 👏 pic.twitter.com/oRTD5pNuIJ
— Ewan Smith (@ewansmithpr) March 24, 2023
“I was very angry last Friday after the Morton game and I made that known to the players all week.
“I told them at training: ‘How dare you put a performance in like that.’
“OK we didn’t lose the game so there was a bit of character about that but the performance was not acceptable.
Dick Campbell: No-one deserves goal more than Dale Hilson
“But the character we showed tonight to keep the ball out was amazing.
“It was also a fabulous goal and no-one deserves it more than Dale Hilson.
“He puts so much into his game and he really stepped up for us.
“I find it quite ironic that we have been sitting down at the bottom of the league and no-one thinks we’ll go down.
“The pundits on TV said last week that we would be ok because of Dick Campbell’s spirit.
“But it’s not about me, it’s about the spirit of Arbroath and we showed that in abundance.”
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