Scott Brown admits Anton Dowds injury is huge blow for Ayr United as he challenges others to step up

The manager will have to do without his top scorer for the rest of the season following the devastating injury news.

SCOTT Brown has challenged Ayr's squad to step up in the absence of Anton Dowds after losing his top gun for the rest of the season.

The Honest Men have received a crushing blow following the news that Dowds won't kick another ball in their push for the Championship title after rupturing his cruciate ligament.

Scans confirmed their worst fears this week in the wake of Dowds hobbling off against Partick last week and August's Player of the Month, who bagged nine goals in 11 games during an electric start to the campaign, will now begin the lengthy road to recovery.

Boss Brown said: "It's a big blow for us. Anton's been on flames so far this season and has been the most efficient striker in the league so far, as shown by getting player of the month for August.

"Goals are key for any club and now someone else has to step up. It's a sore one for us to take because he's a great lad about the place and a top professional in terms of how he works - but not only that, it's his composure on the pitch. He's going to be a huge miss.

"But we have others who now have to add goals and assists to their games and make sure they can contribute."

Brown was speaking in the wake of Ayr's 1-1 draw at Queen's Park, where United went back to the top of the league but had to dig deep following a sluggish first half in which they fell behind.

The manager added: "That's three games we've been very, very sloppy in the first half and had to try and rescue it. You can have a lot of possession at the back but when you don't play forward you get caught. Queen's could probably have scored earlier than they did as a result of us being sloppy and I thought the team that started the game could have controlled it a bit better and shown more energy.

"We had to make the subs at half time and I thought they brought more energy and quality - but it wasn't just those two, the team as a whole responded well. There will always be competition for places here and players will have the chance to come in and show what they can do. They know that if they have a couple of bad games they may drop out for a week, that's just the way it will be. Roy (Syla) and Ethan (Walker) came on and were exceptional and brought a bit of pace and quality that we didn't have in the first half."

Ayr's mounting injury list saw them take to the field at Hampden without a string of recognised starters and Brown made another big call between the sticks, opting to field his third goalkeeper in as many weeks as former Queen's Park kid Liam Russell started against his old side.

He did well to tip wide a Roddy MacGregor shot but from the resulting corner, the Spiders hit the front when Cammy Kerr rose unmarked at the backpost to head home.

Brown gave Ayr a rocket at the break and sent on Syla and Walker for Ryan Howley and Jake Hastie. And United immediately showed more urgency in attack. They levelled when a great run down the right by Dylan Watret saw the full back pick out skipper Ben Dempsey who fired into the top corner.

Ayr almost forged ahead when sub Syla rocked the underside of the bar from 20 yards but the ball bounced agonisingly the wrong side of the line. Watret, Walker and Alfie Bavidge all went close in the latter stages as Ayr finished strongly but they couldn't force the three points.

Brown now hopes that a further seven days can ease Ayr's injury woes with the boss adding that Marco Rus is set to return for the visit of Morton next week.

However, Ayr have been dealt a blow with the news that centre back Connor McAvoy, who is yet to kick a ball having joined on loan from Fulham, faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines having suffered an injury to his ankle in training.

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