MATCH PREVIEW: Forfar Athletic v Queens Park

Queens Park in their 150th year make their first visit on league duty to Station Park since May of 2010 this Saturday for a fixture which even as we reach the halfway point of the campaign  is a vital clash for all the wrong reasons for both clubs.

After 17 games both sides sit level on points and goal difference at the bottom of the Ladbrokes League 1 table, five points adrift of third bottom Albion Rovers.

The home side enter the game on the back of a five game losing run with an injury crisis as drastic as many long term supporters, the writer included can remember.

This list could well be added to on Saturday with Darren Whyte due to be assessed at the last minute following the hefty knock he took late in the game at Stair Park.

Mark Millar though was pronounced fit at training on Thursday night following the quite severe battering his nose took against Stranraer.

Thankfully to the on loan Dunfermline duo of Scott Lochhead and Conner Duthie should return to the match day squad after illness ruled both out for the journey south last weekend, while Eddie Malone returns after serving his two match suspension.

There is however a doubt in regard to the availability of at least one other first team pool member to add to the manager’s woes.

Queens head north having picked up four points from their last two home games, also being unlucky to go down 3-2 at Ayr in between, Alan Forrest netting the home side’s winner in the dying minutes of that contest.

Last week it as defender Adam Cummins who was on the mark in the 1-1 draw with Airdrie.

When the sides met at Hampden in October, a last minute equaliser, how often have we said that or similar this campaign, on this occasion from Luke Donnelly saw both sides gain a point apiece in a 1-1 draw, Jim Weir’s first game in charge of the Station Park outfit.

David Munro will be the man in the middle on Saturday, the first time he will have been in charge of a ‘Loons’ fixture this term.

The Kinnordy Farms Partnership are the match sponsors, with the sell out sign posted as ever for all the hospitality packages available on this Christmas weekend.

Admission prices are £13/7 for the stand, £12/6 for the terracing.

The 1984 Lounge at the ground will be open from 12.30p.m. till kick-off and again on the final whistle till approximately 8p.m.

The home support have shown great patience with the players and club this campaign to date and hopefully on a Saturday which is not renowned for big crowds, they will turn up in reasonable numbers and give Michael Travis and his colleagues their full backing.

With a real ‘team’ effort both on the park and in the stand and terracing, hopefully a bit of festive cheer can be provided for all of a Forfar Athletic persuasion.