Queens midfielder could miss six weeks

Oct 17 2008 by Doug Archibald, Dumfries Standard Friday

Midfielder could miss six weeks

SCOTT Robertson is the latest casualty in Queen of the South’s ranks.

The midfielder is on crutches after damaging a ligament during the friendly match with Annan last week.

He pulled up during the game and it now appears the problem is worse than first thought and he will be out for about six weeks, joining Neil Scally and Jamie Adams on the long-term list.

However, boss Gordon Chisholm has a strong squad to call on and believes the world cup weekend break has given players carrying knocks an extra few days to recover.

“Bobby Harris and Gary Arbuckle are training today (Thursday) and I’ll have another look at them tomorrow,” he said. “I’m very hopeful they will be involved at Airdrie.”

Chisholm will ensure his side are bidding not only to consolidate their position at the top of the table but extend it if possible. Confidence is “sky high” after the annihilation of league leaders Livingston at Palmerston.

Airdrie and Queens clashed in a despairing season opener at Palmerston that ended in a no-scoring draw.

Airdrie’s five across the back defensive formation made it difficult for Queens who soon discovered that the youngsters had plenty of pace to hit on the break.

If one incident summed up that afternoon it was Jim Thomson’s despairing tackle on Simon Lynch that saw the Queens’ captain red carded for nothing other than frustration.

Airdrie are still struggling in the league but proved they have a sting in the tail on Sunday when they dumped Partick Thistle out of the Alba Challenge Cup to reach the final.

That performance was not lost on Chisholm.

Pointing to the victory at Firhill, he said: “They’ll be feeling very confident after Sunday and I am certain we will be in for a tough encounter. I know at Palmerston on the opening day of the season they played very defensively. This time they are at home. We are going there looking for three points, expecting three points and if we do that you can’t ask more.

“When you are at the top you have to work hard to stay there. We have experienced players and staff who know what is needed and we will be doing everything we can to stay there.”