Before that however "The Sons Of The Rock" had been on fine form, winning four of their last five league games. They last tasted defeat against Albion Rovers on December 2nd by 2-1. The sides last met on December 30th at Strathclyde Homes Stadium, in a boring 0-0 draw in which neither side looked likely to make the breakthrough, though it was a fine result for Queen's considering the side had been plagued by injuries to numerous key players.
Dumbarton have been plagued by a problem of their own this season, the harsh Scottish weather. Since that hardfought 0-0 draw at SHS, they have only played three games. League wins over both Elgin City and Albion Rovers have been recorded while they were beaten 4-0 away at Celtic in the Scottish Cup 3rd Round in early January.
They also lost star man Stephen Dobbie to Queen Of The South in the January transfer window after his return from loan to St Johnstone, the other Queen's outbid the Sons to take Dobbie to Palmerston Park. However, since then their side has notched up 4 goals in 2 games. New boy Tommy Coyne, son of famous Celtic and Dundee forward of the same name, has proved to be a worthy replacement so far however.
Billy Stark recieved a huge boost today when Alan Trouten was declared fit for the game however, he may well start on the bench to accomadate the impressive Paul Cairney. Mick Dunlop has also overcame the knock he picked up at Shire on Saturday while Shaun Molloy is available again. Only Richard Sinclair and Stephen Reilly miss out.
LIKELY LINE UP
XI: David Crawford, Paul Paton, Mick Dunlop, Steven Canning, Damiano Agostini, Paul Cairney, Stuart Kettlewell, Alan Trouten, Paul Ronald, David Weatherston, Mark Ferry
SUBS: Mark Cairns, Jonny Whelan, Robert Dunn, Frankie Carroll, Tony Quinn
|
