SCOTT Brown has called on his Ayr United stars to stand up and be counted after the loss of top scorer Anton Dowds dealt his side a hammer blow in their Premiership promotion push.

August’s Championship player of the month - who limped off during the recent match against Partick Thistle - is likely to miss the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury, having bagged five goals in six league games.

Boss Brown admitted that the news was a ‘sore one to take’ after watching his team regain top spot in the division on Saturday, despite the 1-1 draw against Queen’s Park marking the Honest Men’s third successive share of the spoils in the league.

Brown said: “Anton’s presence would be a huge miss in any team in this league.

“It’s a sore one for us to take that he’s not here but somebody else has got to step up now.

“We’ve got a few strikers, a few wingers and a couple of number 10s as well that need to score goals and create chances.

“Hopefully, now we’ve played one game without him, we can manage and start to see how else we can score goals.”

Captain Ben Dempsey celebrated his recent contract extension by netting at Hampden at the weekend to maintain Ayr’s unbeaten start to the season, overtaking fellow pace-setters Falkirk on goal difference, with the Bairns in League Cup action on Sunday.

Dempsey’s second-half equaliser came after Cammy Kerr nodded Callum Davidson’s hosts in front 10 minutes before the break.

And it was Ayr who tried to force a late winner with substitute Roy Syla crashing an effort off the bar.

Brown added: “First half we were very sloppy, we were slow, we weren’t really at the races and the stadium probably haunted us a little bit.

“I think the lads got a little bit of a shock at how big the pitch was.

“We managed to keep the ball at the back and I thought [goalkeeper] Liam Russell was exceptional all day today.

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“But there was no urgency in the final third or quality.

“A couple of subs at half time gave us a little bit of urgency and a bit more quality on the ball.

“We got a lot more chances and more success higher up the park and that’s just due to the lads’ willingness and desire to get higher up the park and get body contact and tackles.

“I thought [in the] first half we got bullied a little.

“We want to be a possession-based team but we also want to be short, sharp and exciting in the final third.”

Ayr welcome sixth-placed Greenock Morton at Somerset Park this Saturday; kick-off at 3pm.