Ayr United defender Martyn Campbell may need knee surgery

Sep 23 2011 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

AYR UNITED’S sliding season has hit more woe with the news that Martyn Campbell may need knee surgery.

The strapping defender was ruled out of Wednesday night’s League Cup tie at home to Hearts.

And there will be no place for former SPL defender Stuart Duff who has played the last three games as a trialist.

Boss Brian Reid is holding fire after watching his defence ship eight goals in the last two games and crash to three defeats in a row.

He admitted: “It’s a tricky one to judge someone after 4-0 and 4-1 defeats. Stuart lives in Dundee which is another problem but he certainly won’t be available for Wednesday.”

Campbell, who failed to score with a free header during the defeat at Partick,admitted that he hadn’t been 100 per cent.

He saw a surgeon on Monday evening and Reid fears he may need a ‘clean-up’ on his knee.

Jonathan Tiffoney and Chris Smith were set for recalls to feature in a recast back four alongside John Robertson and Eddie Malone.

Reid said: “Hearts are flying at themoment and are the third best team in Scotland. However, we beat Inverness in the last round so hopefully we can put on a decent performance which we can take into the league.

“But I’ve told the players it’s not good enough just to turn up for the bigger games – they have to do it every week.”

The wheels have fallen off after Ayr went through August with only one defeat.

Reid admits: “We’ve got the worst recipe in that we are not taking chances and then making mistakes at the other end.

“It’s a mini slump which we need to snap out of quickly but there is a long way to go.

“I am not going to panic after three poor performances. I have no magic wand to help and we have to go with what we’ve got.

“But these players can’t suddenly become bad overnight. These are the same ones who battled to a win over Inverness.

“We have got to make ourselves hard to beat again but for some reason we are looking nervous.”

Reid is desperate to re-find the form that saw Ayr start the season with a wave of optimism.

They beat Raith and took points off Dundee and Falkirk. And there were cup wins over East Stirling, Queen of the South, Raith and Inverness.

But that form has imploded to send them crashing to rock bottom, two points behind the pack.

Reid says: “If we had won our last two, we would be top of the league it’s still that tight.

“Now we’ve a big game on Saturday at home to Queen of the South who have won their last two after being bottom.

“A win will lift us into mid table and that’s what we must strive for.”

Wednesday’s tie against Hearts is all ticket but tickets will be on sale in the club shop right up until kick-off time of 7.45pm.