Published: Thursday, 11th March, 2010 8:30am

Pars top scorer ruled out for up to six weeks

OUCH: Andy Kirk will be out for up to six weeks following this challenge by Airdrie's Ryan McCall.

THE PARS are facing a striker crisis with top scorer Andy Kirk ruled out for up to six weeks after sustaining a bad ankle knock against Airdrie on Tuesday night.

With fellow frontman Graham Bayne already a long-term injury absentee and Steven McDougall missing for the trip to Airdrie, manager Jim McIntyre's options are limited.

The player-boss may have to call on his own services as he did in the home defeat to Ayr United last month.

Saturday's home match against Queen of the South gives the Pars a quick chance to revive their fading league hopes against one of the main challengers.

A win would see Athletic leapfrog over the Dumfries side and raise hopes of a late resurgence through the fixture backlog.

Joe Cardle, who posed an attacking threat in midweek, is also struggling with a hamstring injury which has been bothering him over the past couple of games.

McIntyre said after the Airdrie match, "Kirk's got a bad one. He could be out for four to six weeks which is a big blow for us."

David Graham and Willie Gibson provide striking options but are better suited to wider positions.

However, the striking shortage offers an opportunity for Ross Campbell to stake his claim and he showed up well when he came on for the last half-hour at Airdrie.

The Pars answered the former Hibs player's SOS when he was struggling to get games during a recent spell in Sweden and now Campbell can return the favour.

Although comparatively inexperienced and less of a physical presence than Kirk or Bayne, Campbell is lively, always looking for the ball and has a deft touch around the box.

This is his second spell at East End and he has until the end of the season to prove he is worth a longer contract.

That should provide all the motivation required after his unhappy three months in Sweden with IFK Oestersund.

Meanwhile Cardle said after the Airdrie match, "I felt the hamstring at the weekend and again in the second half tonight.

"It's good to come back here, especially with all the banter, but I was expecting that to be honest.

"It wasn't a match I wanted us to lose coming here but it didn't look like the goal was going to come.

"We didn't play well tonight or in Saturday's game either to be honest.

"It's one of those situations where we thought we would be challenging at the top of the table when we started off this season.

"We're safe in the table and we just need to try to win the matches we've still to play."

McIntyre was unhappy with the first-half showing at Airdrie but pleased with the attitude shown to force the draw.

He felt his side deserved at least a draw but criticised the way the way they never got started for the first 35 minutes.

"For the last 10 minutes we put them under a bit of pressure but we had a few words at half-time because it wasn't good enough and they knew that themselves," McIntyre said after the match.

"In the second half, we dominated possession and got balls into the box. We were pleased with the reaction we got from them."