Ayr Utd. vs Queen of South preview - Ayr counting the cost of the cup

Posted Saturday, September 24, 2011 by PA

Ayr welcome Queen of the South to Somerset Park, with manager Brain Reid reckoning the cost of their penalty-kick win over Hearts in the Scottish Communities League Cup could be the absence of four players.

John Robertson and Gareth Wardlaw are doubts after picking up injuries in Wednesday night's success, and they have been joined in the treatment room by two players that Reid would not name.

Centre-back Martyn Campbell remains out with a knee injury, with Reid saying: "The cup wins are great but the league is our bread and butter and we need to start doing better in it.

WWe should not be losing four goals in games as we have done recently, so we need to bring our cup form into league games."

Queen of the South striker Kevin Smith will miss his the contest after manager Gus McPherson decided against appealing against the red card he picked up in Tuesday night's 5-0 Scottish Communities League Cup defeat to Kilmarnock.

Forward Marc McCusker remains out with a groin problem, with McPherson saying: "I still feel Kevin's dismissal was of the soft kind but technically there was a bit of contact so we decided against taking things further.

"Ayr will be flying high after deservedly defeating Hearts in midweek and they have a really good record at Somerset Park, but we have shown that we are a good side when we work really hard. If we work as hard as we can then we will hopefully bounce back after Kilmarnock."