Injuries weigh on Doonhamers’ clash with Dons

QUEEN of the South boss Gary Naysmith is ticking off the days and the injuries until Sunday’s Scottish Cup game against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

The Doonhamers’ boss has been working with a small squad this season and could place only five substitutes on the bench for the 3-0 defeat by Championship bottom side Falkirk at the weekend.

Ahead of the last-16 tie against the Ladbrokes Premiership outfit at Pittodrie, Naysmith revealed several players are facing a race to be fit.

He said: “Due to a couple of knocks in a (reserve) game on Monday we only had eight training on Tuesday and we are now up to 12.

“There are still two or three that are going be right to the last minutes and we won’t get a decision until on them until Saturday. We know that we are going to be without Iain Wilson who is going to be cup-tied after playing for Kilmarnock in the previous round.

“We will give all our injured players up until the last minute to try to prove their fitness for a big game on Sunday.

“Obviously, they all want to play, these games don’t come around too often and you want to make sure that if you miss it, there is a real good reason why you are missing it.

“We haven’t really filled the bench all season, we have generally played with 15 or 16 all season, I am quite comfortable with that. As long as I have a substitute goalkeeper and three outfield subs, I am quite happy to go with 15 players.”