GUS MacPHERSON today urged his Queen's Park players to welcome the chase ahead of another title tilt.

Fresh from a campaign that saw the Spiders fall short of promotion to League One in a tense 2-1 play-off final defeat to Stenhousemuir, preparations are well underway for their next crusade.

Despite falling just short, it was still a remarkable achievement for Queen's, considering the upheaval endured over the year.

Last summer boss MacPherson had to sign 13 players from the Junior, amateur and juvenile ranks to replenish his resources, while the club had to also deal with moving back to Hampden after a spell at Airdrie.

Twelve months on and the landscape is much different for Queen’s. Starting the campaign at the National Stadium, 15 of last season’s stars in black and white have pledged their future to the club once more.

With that continuity comes expectation, and MacPherson knows only too well that others will be out to halt his team’s progress.

“There has been a little bit of nervousness as the players know this is where the hard work begins,” said the manager.

“All of our players applied themselves very well last year – to their credit – and they are aware that’s what they need to do again.

“I think certainly at the start of the last campaign a lot of the guys were pretty unknown to a lot of people at this level, but because of their form and success, they are now targets for teams. The challenge for our players is to rise to that.”

While a core of last season’s squad remains, it is clear MacPherson is not content to rest on his laurels.

The Junior ranks have been a proven goldmine for unearthing top talent in recent years, and this summer the Hampden boss has delved in again to bolster his ranks.

Cammy Marlow, who played last season for Glenafton before a spell in the US, and former Celtic trainee and Beith winger, Joe Bradley, are the latest recruits.

Bradley joined up earlier this week having also had a stint Stateside, and MacPherson is happy to give the 25-year-old a chance to prove himself in the Senior ranks.

“We had Joe in on trial at St Mirren after he started his career at Celtic,” said the former Buddies boss.

“Joe really epitomises our recruitment process here. He is a very talented player who, for one reason or another, has fallen out of Senior football before going on to do extremely well at Junior level with Beith.

“We are aware of these players who are floating about and Joe also sees it as a fantastic opportunity to be back playing Senior football.

“He’s still young enough at the age of 25, so he has a great chance to go and showcase his undoubted talent in a good environment.”

MacPherson added: “That’s the one thing I will say. Perhaps boys get a wee bit disillusioned far too early in their football career. You just never know what could happen if you play to a certain level, and you may just attract other clubs.

“I think Queen’s Park has always been renowned for giving players a platform to perform on their level, to then get a chance to go on to an even higher level.”

Meanwhile, it has emerged MacPherson is keen to also bring in Blantyre Vics ace David Galt.

The midfielder, who is also a coach at Partick Thistle’s Thistle Weir Academy, has been offered a chance to impress in pre-season with the Spiders.

MacPherson said: “We have watched David a few times and he has impressed, however he has played a lot of football recently and his season only finished last Thursday.

“Rather than say ‘You need to join us for the start of pre-season or we are not interested’ I said to him to take a break and see how he feels in a couple of weeks.”