Queen's Park explain Davidson sacking despite cup glory

Barry Nicholson and Callum Davidson have been replaced with Steven MacLean

Queen's Park say "three league wins in four months" led them to dispense with Callum Davidson as head coach at the weekend following a bruising 4-0 home defeat by Scottish Championship leaders Falkirk.

First-team coach Steven MacLean, who had also succeeded Davidson when he was sacked by St Johnstone, has been appointed interim head coach, assisted by Sean Crighton, who has led their B team to the top of this season's reserve league.

The Spiders have won five games in 14 outings since the start of the year, but three of them have come in knock-out competitions, including a famous 1-0 win away to Rangers in the Scottish Cup, and they have now lost four in a row.

Queen's Park say in a website statement that Davidson and assistant Barry Nicholson leave behind a legacy of not only that "memorable highlight" at Ibrox but also a first national cup final in more than a century - reaching the SPFL Trust Trophy final later this month against Livingston.

"However, despite supplementing the first-team with top-level loan targets in the January transfer window, our recent form of three league wins in four months of the William Hill Championship leaves us six points above the relegation play-off place," they point out.

They add that the decision to part with Davidson and Nicholson "was not an easy one" but will allow them to "take this opportunity to plan for the future, re-align our player pathway and focus on youth while developing an attractive, attacking brand of football".