East Fife vs Arbroath preview - Hughes stays on the sidelines

East Fife's former Scotland midfielder Stephen Hughes is an injury doubt for the Bayview club's crunch clash with Arbroath at the foot of League One.

Hughes missed Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Ayr United through injury and the problem will keep him on the sidelines for the first game of 2014.

"We missed Stephen as he is an experienced player but the team we did have out should still have done better," said East Fife boss Gary Naysmith.

"We started well but the second half was disappointing and I am looking for an improvement, with or without Stephen.

"The Arbroath game is a huge one both in terms of league points and also because we have lost two successive games. I do not want that becoming three."

Arbroath go looking for their first win in 10 league games and they are boosted by the return of Graham Bayne and Ross Chisholm.

Bayne is back from suspension while family commitments forced Chisholm to miss the 2-1 defeat to Airdrie. Steven Doris could also be involved if he shakes off the leg injury that saw him miss out on Saturday. However, Bradley Donaldson will miss out with an ankle injury.

Arbroath player/ manager Paul Sheerin said: "Hopefully we can get some bodies back and give us the appetite that was missing after we went behind at the weekend.

"We are in a disappointing position and need to battle our way out of it."