This Tuesday night sees Queens back in action with what looks on paper to be the most difficult of the remaining fixtures, an away trip to leaders Dundee.
The Dees retained their top spot with a narrow 1-0 win at Dumbarton on Saturday which helped us move clear in 4th but by all accounts they were fortunate to win it. They have won three of their last four though and have been very consistent since Paul Hartley took over as manager, including a narrow 1-0 win at Palmerston just a few weeks ago. That game of course saw Jim Atkinson sent off before half time and Ryan Conroy struck the winner from the resulting penalty. With Hamilton just a point behind they will be keen not to slip up.
Queens too are in great form though and have been the division`s best side since the start of December. We`ve won seven and lost just twice in the last eleven games, those successive penalty kick defeats to Dundee and Falkirk, and have moved six points clear of Dumbarton and Livingston in 4th spot, albeit the Sons have a game in hand. Stuttering form from Falkirk since they beat us in controversial circumstances last month has brought them back into our sights and we could indeed go 3rd on Tuesday with a win at Dens combined with a Falkirk loss at home to Dumbarton.
Defender Mark Durnan missed out on Saturday due to a knock suffered in training and it will be a late decision whether he is fit to come back against Dundee. Meanwhile Michael Paton and Derek Lyle will hope they did enough in sub appearances on Saturday to persuade the manager to pick them from the start.
Dundee have been getting their players back and have Christian Nade and Craig Beattie back in contention. Beattie of course made the difference when brought on as a substitute on our last visit to Dens, setting up the equaliser and scoring the winner in the dying minutes.
We understand that Dundee away midweek will be difficult for many supporters to get to. We appreciate the support from those who are going. For those who can`t make it, our former reporter George Cran, who now works as a journalist in Dundee, will be providing Live Updates for the website. We are very grateful to him for stepping back in as new reporter Michael Temlett is unable to make it tomorrow.