Friday 24th September, 2021 at 4:38pm
It’s another top half clash this weekend as Partick Thistle face Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park in the cinch Championship. Thistle currently occupy fourth place in the table with Rovers two points below the Jags with a game in hand. The Kirkcaldy side will be looking to bounce back from a midweek defeat to Celtic while Ian McCall’s squad are looking to rebound from two consecutive defeats; the second of which came against Kilmarnock last weekend. Brian Graham spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of the game as he prepares to return to a familiar venue:
“I spent two happy years at Raith so it’s a place I know well. I’ve worked with John McGlynn before and he’s a really good manager. He’s just totally focused on football. He’s switched on 24/7 and I know from first-hand experience that his training regime is really hard.
“He’s totally changed his philosophy and Rovers have been really attractive to watch from when I’ve seen them but his team will be well organised, and that’s a given with John McGlynn. They will pass the ball and they will be a danger, but we’ve got to nullify that and put our gameplan into place.”
It’s been a tough opening to September with two consecutive cinch Championship defeats for the Maryhill men and Brian is looking to get back to winning ways as soon a possible.
“That’s two defeats on the bounce now, away to Inverness and then Kilmarnock at Firhill, and they’re the two teams that are first and second so we can look at that and say that we’re not too far away. I wouldn’t say Inverness or Kilmarnock were much better than us, but they got the three points which is all that matters.
“We’ve just got to pick ourselves up for a big game on Sunday against Raith Rovers because we know they can catch us if they win. It’s still early days and we want to keep picking up points so we can stay at the top end of the table.”
Thistle started well against Kilmarnock last weekend without testing the goalkeeper much so Brian is hoping the Jags can start well and make the most of it this weekend in Fife.
“We started the game really well last weekend but didn’t get the goal and after 20 minutes Killie got a foothold in the game and because they were effective in turning us, we probably sat deeper as a team than we would’ve wanted.
“We were still getting into really good areas but weren’t really creating any good chances for the strikers which was frustrating because I felt Zak and I were working really hard. To be honest, we never really looked like scoring and as a striker you come away from a game like that and you’re just disappointed. Hopefully this weekend we can continue to find good areas and produce a bit more in the final third.”
As the number nine gets stuck into his second full season as a Jag, he says he’s really enjoying life at Firhill.
“Overall, I just want to keep working hard for the club because I really enjoy it here, I feel at home, and I get on really well with the manager and all the staff at the club. I just want to keep doing well and keep scoring goals for Partick Thistle and hopefully a few more will come my way on Sunday.”
Exclusive video interviews with Jamie Sneddon and Thistle assistant manager Alan Archibald will be available for JagZone subscribers to watch today – log in to view.
JagZone subscribers will be able to tune in to live audio commentary for our clash with Raith Rovers, starting at 2:30pm – click here to tune in.
The home side are providing a livestream of the game which is priced at £14 – click here for more info.
We’ll have extended highlights and a full game replay of the fixture on JagZone following the game.
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