And, to make matters worse for the Dens men, central defender Gary MacKenzie hobbled off with a hamstring problem, while midfielder Colin Cameron, who didn’t even make last night’s starting line-up, is set to miss the next few games with a similar complaint.

And, with defensive pairing Jim Lauchlan and Craig McKeown also sidelined by injury, the Dens gaffer doesn’t have his problems to seek.

However, today Jocky vowed his team would keep battling away and refused to use injuries as an excuse for losing out to Queens.

He said, “Last night’s defeat just makes it more difficult, but it means we have to win every game, we can’t afford to drop points.

“But we won’t give up. We’ll keep battling and it will be a test of the players’ character.

“I won’t use injuries as an excuse for not winning games. Injuries can’t be avoided, but it’s unfortunate for us that they seem to have almost all come in one area of the field.”

MacKenzie’s hamstring complaint will be assessed today.

“The physio doesn’t think it’s a pull or a tear, but he may have aggravated some old scar tissue,” added Jocky.

“Jim (Lauchlan) has no chance of being fit for Saturday’s home game against Ross County, while Craig (McKeown) is touch and go.”

Meanwhile, reflecting on last night’s reverse, Jocky admitted conceding soft goals had cost his side dear.

“We gave away poor goals, every one of them could have been avoided.

“I thought we started very well and, had Giorgi Efrem’s shot gone in instead of hitting the post, it might have been a different story.

“But you can’t lose three goals in the manner that we did, especially at home, and expect to win games.”