The Diamonds drew a blank at Palmerston as Queen of the South went to the top of Betfred Cup Group E.

With Marc Fitzpatrick unable to make the match after his injury in Friday evening's opening fixture, Iain Russell took over as captain on the night.

Prior to kick-off, everyone in attendance paid due respect during a minutes silence for former Queens player Chris Mitchell.

With three points on the board already the Doonhamers knew that a win would put them in line for one of the top two places.

After a minute Airdrie keeper Rohan Ferguson had to react quickly as he dived low to gather Lyndon Dykes 20 yard effort on goal.

With six minutes gone Hugo Faria and Russell combined to send Scott Stewart wide on the right. His cross to the edge of the box was blasted high over the target by Conor McLaughlin.

Three minutes later the home side took the lead when Grant Anderson's cross from the right picked out Derek Lyle who nodded the ball past Ferguson at his right post.

Anderson was proving a threat down the right and further crosses put the Diamonds defence under pressure, with the ball being well defended or Ferguson plucking the ball from the air.

With 20 minutes played Faria rose to head Adam Brown's corner for goal but home keeper Lee Robinson made a fine reflex save.

Queens doubled their advantage on 24 minutes after a good run and cutback by Jake Pickard. Lyle, who netted a double the last time the sides met, was in the right place to turn it home.

Anderson went close from an angled shot in 32 minutes, firing the ball against the side netting, and forced Ferguson to make the save of the match in 35 minutes from a point blank effort at goal.

After the break Airdrie offered more going forward but the home side always look a danger on the counter attack.

A superb run by Stewart down the right in 63 minutes won a corner. Ryan Conroy's delivery was headed wide by Kevin Schmidt.

Twice in the second half the home side went close to adding to their lead but both efforts struck the post.

Andy Ryan powered into the box after long ball from Dean Cairns sent him on his way in stoppage time. The striker was unlucky with the run of the ball and a questionable challenge went unpunished.

On the night Scott Stewart turned in a fine performance while Rohan Ferguson is maturing with each game, although the team as a collective were not able to reach the level of the Thistle game.

These matches have allowed the squad to test themselves against higher ranked opponents and learn from the performances.