Queen of the South earn crucial win over Inverness CT

Josh Todd celebrates after firing Queens into an early lead at Palmerston Park

Queen of the South staved off relegation with victory over Inverness Caley Thistle to set up a key showdown with Ayr United at the weekend.

The Dumfries side must now win their remaining two matches and hope Ayr or Dunfermline go empty-handed to have any chance of avoiding the drop.

Josh Todd shot the hosts in front after a lively start.

Euan East then thundered in a second for Queens after Logan Chalmers had equalised with a fine strike.

Chalmers went close to a second leveller late in the game, cracking a half-volley wide, while visiting defender Danny Devine made an incredible goal-line block to deny Ruben Soares-Junior in stoppage-time and there was still time for Innes Cameron to waste a glorious chance for the Doonhamers.

Caley Thistle, who had been unbeaten in five matches, remain third, four points ahead of Partick Thistle, but cannot catch second-placed Arbroath.

Bottom-of-the-table Queens had lost six in a row but will have renewed belief as they aim to stay in the second tier for a tenth campaign.

Queen of the South player-manager Willie Gibson: "I'm so proud of the character shown by the players after the battering we took at Arbroath. I thought we were solid as a collective and didn't give up many chances.

"We're at home again on Saturday and we'll go into that massive game with confidence."

Inverness CT manager Billy Dodds: "I was quite happy with the first half performance even though we were 2-1 down. Second half, we didn't do enough.

"We're still in the driving seat for third. Going into the play-offs we can't give away slack goals like that - and it's not like us, we've been defending pretty well. Tonight we got into good areas but we didn't find the right passes."