Queen of South vs Cowdenbeath preview - Dowie ban stands

Posted Friday, December 19, 2014 by PA

Queen of the South will be without Andy Dowie against visitors Cowdenbeath.

The SFA rejected the appeal to overturn the retrospective ban issued to the defender for a challenge on Ian Black of Rangers last Friday.

Iain Russell is also banned and player-manager James Fowler has delayed naming his side as Ian McShane and Danny Carmichael are carrying knocks.

The long-term injured Chris Mitchell (back), Stephen McKenna (heel) and Paul Burns (knee) have returned to training, however they are not yet match fit.

Fowler said: "We did very well to defeat Rangers 2-0 but we cannot let our performance levels drop as Cowdenbeath beat us in our last meeting."

Cowdenbeath's on-loan St Mirren midfielder Declan Hughes plays his last game before returning to the Paisley side and he looks set to be without midfield colleague Jon Robertson, who has a hamstring injury.

Long-term injury victims Kenny Adamson (foot), Dean Brett (foot), John Armstrong (achilles) and Craig Sutherland (knee) remain out.

Manager Jimmy Nicholl said: "We defeated Queen of the South at our place and will look to do so again. We have strikers that can score goals and we intend to use that to our advantage.

"They are on a good run but we are up for the challenge."