Queen of South vs Arbroath preview - Arbroath sweat on trio

Posted Saturday, September 01, 2012 by PA

Queen of the South have Derek Lyle struggling for fitness ahead of the visit of Arbroath.

Striker Lyle picked up a knock in Tuesday night's 2-0 Scottish Communities League Cup success against SPL club Hibernian.

Kevin Smith is again ruled out through a knock with Ryan McGuffie and Willie Gibson both looking at substitute roles at best after also struggling with injuries recently.

Palmerston player-manager Allan Johnston said: "We cannot sit back after a good result and think things are going to happen for us, especially against a team like Arbroath who score a lot of goals.

"They like to pass the ball about and play good football so we need to reach the same tempo we reached against Hibs.

"The league is our priority and picking up three points is what matters."

Arbroath will give Mark Baxter, Michael Travis and Derek Holmes fitness tests ahead of the top-of-the-table game.

The Gayfield men are already two players down with goalkeeper Darren Hill missing due to his broken arm and Danny Rennie sitting out the second game of his two-match suspension.

Ahead of the game player-manager Paul Sheerin said: "They have been on a great run since the start of the season and of course beating Hibs was a fantastic result in midweek.

"It is a real test for us against a side tipped for promotion but we did really well in a similar game against Ayr United and we won that one."