Friday 3rd January, 2020 at 11:51am
It’s now been three matches since any changes have been made to the Partick Thistle defence and that stability has coincided with an improvement in goals conceded by the team. The team let in a goal a game in December which might not seem too impressive at first glance, however, it is noticeably better than the more than two goals per game the team had conceded on average in the league going into the month. A big part of that has of course been the goalkeeper, Scott Fox, who most recently made a couple of great saves to preserve the Thistle lead at Cappielow Park against Morton and the Jags’ number 22 spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of the team’s trip to face Alloa this weekend:
“The win at Cappielow was a big one. At this time of the season it becomes one big game after another and every match can move you up or down places. It’s the same against Alloa this weekend and we have to be fully focused on going and getting another important win away from home.”
Thistle are currently four points clear of the Wasps and Foxy knows that this game represents a good opportunity for the Jags to lift themselves away from that bottom spot.
“If you look at the table, it’s a big chance for us to put a gap between ourselves and Alloa and get us closer to the right end of the table. We’ve played them twice already this season and we’ve drawn twice so we should know what to expect and we can go there with confidence after the win last week.
“We know it’s going to be difficult though, especially at their place with the astroturf, but I think the best thing for us is to focus on ourselves and try to be clinical. We’ve had games recently when we’ve not played well but been clinical and won and that’s all that matters at this point; winning.”
As mentioned previously, there have been no changes to the Thistle backline for three games, as a matter of fact, there have been no changes to the entire team and Scott says that can only be a good thing for himself and the side as a whole.
“It’s definitely something that helps and it breeds confidence for the team. When you look at the games that line-up had there were two good wins and a tight defeat to Dundee so I think we feel a bit more settled now and we’re performing better because of it.”
“We, as a defence, want to give the front players a platform to work from. Previously, when we’ve let in two or three goals you then need one more than that to win a game but if we can keep it down and maybe start getting a few more clean sheets then we’re making it easier for our strikers to go and win us games.”
Finally, Fox mentioned Jamie Sneddon, who signed a contract extension with the club this week, congratulating the young ‘stopper on his new deal.
“He’s been great to work with and I’m delighted for him because he absolutely deserves it. He’s worked really hard and I think he’s shown in the games he has played that he’s a talented ‘keeper. I know that I have to be on the ball or he’ll be right there to step in and that competition is good for the team overall.”
More exclusive preview interviews with Alex Jones and Thistle assistant manager, Alan Archibald, are now available to JagZone subscribers – log in to see them.
Jagzone members will also be able to watch extended highlights of the game.
Can’t make it to the match? JagzoneLIVE will bring you coverage of the full 90 minutes through our audio commentary service which begins begins at 2:45pm – you can listen in here.
For a full list of all the great content you can access from just £5.99 per month as a Jagzone member, click here.
Article Copyright © 2020. Permission to use quotations from this article online is only granted subject to appropriate source credit and hyperlink to ptfc.co.uk.
