STEVIE Lawless has had enough bad memories of facing Queen of the South in cup competition for Partick Thistle to last him a lifetime, even though he won the most recent encounter in last season’s League Cup.

The match that still sticks out in his mind may be one that he doesn't want to remember, but it is doubtful if anyone there will ever forget the incredible finale to the game.

It was the Challenge Cup final of 2013, and Queen of the South led by a goal to nil with minutes remaining of extra-time. Thistle were awarded a penalty, only for Aaron Muirhead to miss, and subsequently be red-carded for headbutting an opponent.

The Jags looked dead and buried, but up popped Kris Doolan to spark wild scenes among the Thistle support by equalising with 30 seconds to go, before they promptly lost on penalties anyway.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Lawless was hooked after his own poor performance, the blame for which he lays squarely at the door of his agent.

“My agent got me new boots for the match,” Lawless said. “But they were AstroTurf boots and I was skating about for the first 25 minutes, and that ended up getting me the hook. I’ve never let my agent forget it.

“It was a good experience being in a final in front of a packed house and I had a lot of family there to watch me. It was a crazy finish to the match. I remember it well. Ross Forbes had a shot – he still claims it was a cross, but it was with his right foot and it was definitely a shot. The ball ended up in the right place for Dools and he equalised. But the end was disappointing. It was a low.

“It was one of the biggest games of my career, although we had a bigger game against Morton after it. We’d have rather lost the cup final and got promoted and that’s how it turned out.

“But it was a really disappointing experience. I gave my medal away to my dad, but I thought I would have a lot more medals by now, so I think I’m going to ask for it back!”

A lot has changed at Thistle since that day, with the Firhill side now firmly established in the top-flight, while the Doonhamers are still fighting it out in the Championship.

But Lawless knows that many will be marking out his side’s trip to Palmerston as a potential cup upset, and he is determined to make sure that scenario doesn’t come to pass.

“People may think this is a potential shock because of our league position,” he said. “But we feel we have turned the corner.

“It’s going to be a tough game. Queen of the South have a lot of quality and we will need to be wary of Stephen Dobbie. But if we apply ourselves correctly and don’t take anything for granted we can get the result we want.”