| Lyle went off after just seven minutes of the Queen of the South defeat for an off-the-ball kick and, while it will remain an internal matter, fans can be sure he’s been hit hard in the pocket.
The former Doonhamer could now be facing as many as five games in the sin bin and, while he has defended him in the past, this time the gaffer admitted it had been a costly mistake.
“You can’t do what he did and, looking back at the game, I would say that with 11 men we would not have lost,” said Alex.
“We have a code of conduct here that is clear and it will be applied, but what everyone has to realise is that, with such a small squad, we cannot afford to be losing players needlessly.
“Derek misses Partick on Saturday automatically, so Danny Griffin will be back on the bench. If someone else misses out — and we are assessing a few knocks from yesterday — then it is down to using the kids, that’s how tight things are.
“That shows we cannot afford to lose people, particularly when games are coming thick and fast like they are now.”
It is also why the manager would like to add to his squad in the transfer window, though whether or not he does that depends on available cash.
One player unlikely to be staying on is full-back Eddie Malone. He has three games of his loan spell from St Mirren left and is expected to head back to Love Street after the clash with Dunfermline on Saturday week.
“Right now, it looks like they want him back. That’s a blow, because he has done very well and we would have liked to keep him for longer, “ added Alex.
“A bit like Lyle’s ban, that’s just the way it is and we will get on with working with what we have instead of talking about what might be.” |
