Tomorrow we welcome ‘local’ rivals Ayr United to Palmerston for the second meeting between the sides this year.
The two met at Somerset Park on the opening day of the league season with United taking all three points in a 2-1 victory. A quickfire brace from Michael Miller, his only two goals of the season, were too much for the Doonhamers who could only hit back through a second-half Stephen Dobbie penalty. James Maxwell was shown a red card after 66 minutes before Luke McCowan was given his marching orders in the first minute of injury time.
Our visitors have struggled for form recently, not picking up a win in their last four games, shipping eight goals in the process. While we managed to pick up a win on Tuesday, with Connor Shields and Tommy Goss earning us a 2-0 victory in Kirkcaldy, elevating us to 8th in the table.
Shields did limp off after 80 minutes with an ankle injury, it remains to be seen whether he, Rohan Ferguson (illness), Jack Leighfield (knee) and Harry Robinson will make Saturday’s game. However, Stephen Dobbie, Nortei Nortey, Kieran McKechnie and Niyah Joseph will all be absent.
The away side are also missing a few players with on-loan striker Innes Cameron likely to be missing, along with Bruce Anderson, who has been sent back to his parent club, Aberdeen, after an unsuccessful loan spell. Player/Manager Mark Kerr made his first start of the season against Morton on Tuesday at 38 years young, while Tom Walsh is in line to return to the starting line-up after a spell out injured.
Winger Luke McCowan is this seasons top scorer for the Honest Men with five, although he has been sent off twice in four appearances against Queens. Connor Shields and Stephen Dobbie lead the way with four goals each for the Doonhamers this season, including two in the last two games for Shields.
Manager Allan Johnston is looking forward to the match “Confidence is high after our performance against Raith on Tuesday. The boys were outstanding in that game and have set a standard for themselves. We need to match the energy and performance levels week in and week out.
We know we have the players who are capable of climbing the table. They all stepped up to the mark at Raith and we now need to be consistent and build on the result.
We know we need to start winning our home games and will be looking to start that against Ayr United. Although we still won’t have fans in the ground, it’s a local derby which always adds a little bit of spice. These are the games that you want to play in, games are coming thick and fast but as a player you would rather be playing games rather than training. It’s also our first game of 2021 so three points would get it off to a good start.
On behalf of everyone at the club I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support and wish you and your families a Happy New Year”.
The game is live on QOSTV.
Season ticket holders of course have free access to the stream, whilst it’s available on PPV for just £10.
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Tickets are also available for our virtual 50/50 draw.
Kick off – 3pm