Stewart Petrie has been dealt a blow after Montrose lost their appeal over Blair Lyons’ red card last weekend.
The on-loan Partick Thistle forward was giving his marching orders late in the 1-1 home draw with Clyde.
Lyons was adjudged to have deliberately stamped on the Bully Wee’s Nick McAllister.
The Gable Endies appealed the decision earlier this week but the SFA upheld the referee’s decision, with Lyons now serving a two-game ban.
‘No malice’
While he admits Lyons did step on the player, Petrie was dismayed at the decision.
“How someone can think he has stood on the guy is beyond me,” he said. “But that’s the decision that they’ve come to.
“He’s not got a malicious bone in his body. He just tried to get away from the challenge.
“It’s certainly not deliberate.
“When you watch the video (above) you can see from the reaction from the Clyde players that they know he’s not meant to stand on him.
“He did stand on him and there is contact, but if they deem that it’s deliberate then that’s their opinion of it.
“We’re really disappointed with the outcome of that.”
Queens Park challenge
While Lyons drops out of the squad, Paul Watson returns from his one-game suspension.
And Petrie should have a full enough squad available to him for Saturday’s trip to Queen’s Park.
The Spiders have not lost this season and the Montrose boss is fully aware of the task at hand.
“They’ve had a lot of draws but they are a good side,” Petrie said.
“I watched their games last week against East Fife and played some super stuff at times.
“Their pitch won’t help them. It will be a challenge for both sides and we know exactly what we’re facing.”
