Hopes of successfully defending the Scottish Communities League Cup were left in tatters when the Ayrshire side were dumped out by Irn-Bru Second Division side Stenny in August. The defeat was even more frustrating for the injured Bell, who was forced to look on helpless from the stands. The goalkeeper is now eyeing an extended run in the Scottish Cup instead in a bid to banish their League Cup failure. Bell said:
"All the boys were really disappointed. "I missed the Stenhousemuir game through my injury and I was disappointed sitting in the stand.
"We won that cup last season and I didn't get a chance to play in it again so it was disappointing for me.
"Hopefully we can kick off this campaign in the Scottish Cup and go far in the competition."
Bell is wary of the threat of another lower division side, with Queens sitting top of Division Two on an impressive unbeaten run. He added:
"It will be a really hard game for us. We've looked at them on the DVD and we're taking the match very seriously.
"We have already been put out by a team from the SFL this season in the League Cup so we know there are very good teams in those leagues.
"With Queens being unbeaten in the league this season, they will be very confident coming into the game and knowing they've not got much to lose against us.
"We need to approach the game professionally and play to the best of our ability to win the game."
Kilmarnock kicked off last season's successful League Cup run with a comfortable 5-0 win over Queen of the South. But Bell expects the Dumfries outfit to be a different prospect this time around. He said:
"We know it's probably going to be a different game this season.
"They've probably got a better team, a more together team, and their confidence will be high because they're winning games every week.
"They've got some good, young players and they'll be eager to impress on the big stage.
"I think they are a stronger team than last year but hopefully we can perform and kick off this cup campaign."
Source: team_talk
