Queen's Park v Dunfermline Athletic: Can hosts break Championship drought?

Ruari Paton's goal earned struggling Queen's Park their last victory, against Arbroath in August

Gayfield Park, Arbroath on 19 August. Ambitious Scottish Championship club Queen's Park in town. Ruari Paton steams into the home box and scrambles the ball past a despairing Derek Gaston. The goal clinches a third straight win for the Glasgow side.

More than four months later, Queen's Park have not won a league game since. A mortifying run of 15 matches without Championship victory, their sole triumph coming against Bala Town in the Challenge Cup in September.

As his team tumbled down the table, head coach Robin Veldman was dismissed last month, but the malaise has not lifted.

Queen's Park released a statement announcing Paul Nuijten, part of Veldman's coaching staff, would take charge of forthcoming matches, without clarifying whether the Dutchman was an interim or permanent appointment.

So far, he has overseen four games and has only a point to show for them. Queen's Park - who have taken just a point from the past 18 available - have slipped from eighth to bottom spot and host Dunfermline Athletic in a huge Friday night contest live on BBC Scotland.

Incredibly, despite this bleakest of periods, they remain in touch with those above them. Arbroath are just three points better off, with Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ayr United a further one and two points higher, respectively.

But after seeing the players' reaction in training of late, Nuijten is hopeful the club is turning a corner.

"That's the most important thing for us now," he said. "Hard work at the end will result in something, but we need to make sure we do the right things right, only working hard is not enough.

"So that's something we did with the shape, we changed that, we need to make sure we are spot on with that again.

"It comes from the staff, from the players and then together we need to make sure we get the three points."

'We need to be better at set pieces'

Nuijten shuffled his squad for the trip to Partick Thistle, where Paton scored twice, with eight of the starting XI aged 23 or under.

Both wing-backs, Cameron Bruce and Zach Mauchin, were just 18. The latter made his first start. Nineteen-year-old Lewis Reid, 20-year-old Alex Bannon and Jack Thomson, 23, made up the central defence.

"I think it was one of our better performances in the recent weeks," Nuijten said before the visit of Dunfermline.

"I think against Partick Thistle we had a good defensive shape. The main thing, which is quite obvious, is we need to defend better at set pieces.

"It's a combination of making them [the players] aware, make sure you have the right people on the right opponent and training on it as well.

"We need to have more bodies in the box - we had a good cross from Zach Mauchin and there was just one midfielder in the box. That's something we have emphasised to the midfielders, the full-backs, the wingers - they need to be all in the box to make sure we increase the chances that we score."

Set-piece goals blight Dunfermline

Dunfermline, too, are enduring a sticky patch, with Tuesday's Fife derby defeat by Raith Rovers stretching their winless run to four matches.

James McPake's side have fallen out of the play-off slots - but are only a point shy of fourth-placed Airdrieonians - and have similar set-piece frailties to Queen's.

McPake bemoaned a "recurring theme" after the derby loss in which both Raith goals came from dead balls, with the Pars manager adding: "I'm really disappointed.

"We lost a goal down at Ayr United last week, which cost us three points. We are not doing our jobs properly."

At the bottom end of the tale, Arbroath travel to third-placed Thistle on Saturday, while Ayr and Inverness play each other at Somerset Park. Dunfermline's nearest rivals Airdrieonians face a testing journey to league leaders Raith.

For both sides in action at Hampden, this is a game bearing significant opportunity.