Queen's Park have declared their 'regrettable mistake' after they were booted out of the Scottish Cup for fielding Euan Henderson in the win over Inverness on Tuesday evening.
The Hampden-based outfit travelled up to the Highlands in midweek to play out their rearranged Cup tie against Billy Dodds' side, with the original tie supposed to have taken place on January 21. A 2-0 win transpired for the Glasgow side, and all seemed well and rosey as they made their way back to the lowlands in the hat for the next round.
But it soon became apparent that Euan Henderson, a loan signing from Hearts which they completed on January 27, had featured in the game. With the original tie having been scheduled for six days before his arrival, that made the youngster ineligible to play - a huge mistake given he had played for well over an hour at the Caledonian Stadium. A hearing took place on Friday which would see both clubs learn their fate for the next round, and the decision is that Inverness will now progress to play Livingston instead.
It is a huge blunder from Owen Coyle's side, who are well and truly in the hunt for Premiership football as they sit top of the Championship by one point; and the club have described the ordeal as a 'regrettable mistake from which they will learn from'.
The statement read: "An error was made regarding the eligibility of a player who featured in Tuesday night’s game with Inverness Caledonian Thistle and we have accepted the SFA’s decision. It is a regrettable mistake, one we will learn from.
“Our team put on a tremendous display on Tuesday to win the tie and obviously today’s result is a hugely disappointing outcome. As upsetting as this matter is, it’s vital that we put this behind us quickly, move on and focus on our league campaign.
"The support we received from our fans on Tuesday was terrific. We are conscious that they invested time and money travelling to the game and I will be speaking to the Supporters Association over the coming days to suggest how the club can recognise the efforts of the travelling support."
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