Allan Johnston praised his Queen of the South team after a hard-fought defeat to Premier League side Dundee United in the League Cup at Palmerston tonight.

A first half goal from Johnny Russell was enough for the visitors to secure the victory.

Johnston: "Playing against a top team and had them on the ropes. In the second half they couldn`t get out of their own half and we`re disappointed not to get the goal.

"It was a great performance.  Maybe the first half, I don`t know if we stood off them too much or it was the conditions but we gave them too much respect.  We gave them too much space in the first half but in the second half we pushed right on top of them and I think we created lots of problems, got a lot of crosses in the box and were just unlucky not to get a goal.

"Burns` energy in the middle of the park made a difference and Dan Carmichael and Willie Gibson were fantastic creating chances and getting balls in the box.

"There were a lot of positives to take out of that game - to come up against a top Premier League team and produce a performance like that.

"Everybody`s gutted in there and that shows you the standards we`ve set.

"We`re gutted but it was a great performance and you could hear the fans getting behind the boys and willing them on.  They all stayed to the end because they know that the boys keep going.

Striker Nicky Clark expressed his disappointment at the loss: "I thought the boys were brilliant tonight, especially in the second half and we deserved to get something out of the game.  I thought we matched them.  It`s a hard one to take but we`ll move on and look to Saturday and hopefully get another win.