Akinola: It’s going to be a big battle

Thursday 17th February, 2022 at 1:40pm

Following defeat in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup, Partick Thistle look ahead to a cinch Championship game against Dunfermline Athletic on Friday night. Thistle defender Tunji Akinola sat down with ptfc.co.uk to give his thoughts ahead of the game:

“After I couldn’t play at the weekend I’m desperate to get back on the pitch. The defence played really well at the weekend so I’ve had to work hard in training this week to give me a chance to hopefully get back in the team. We’ve got strong competition throughout the team and when we play so well it isn’t guaranteed you’ll get back in the team. Every game is a big opportunity for us at the moment so you have to be right on form to get into the side and help the side to keep climbing up the table.”

Akinola spoke of his feelings on missing the Scottish Cup game due to suspension and the frustration that he felt.

“I was saying to a couple of people that it’s harder to watch it than when I’m actually on the pitch because I get so nervous when you get chances or they get chances. As I’ve said, the boys did amazingly well defensively and we created a number of good chances, so how we performed in that game really gave me encouragement to know that our team is capable of doing something positive this season.

“You can see it in training; everyone is buzzing and confident and hopefully we can keep taking it into the games and keep getting results.”

Reflecting on our previous two meetings with the Pars, Akinola talks about expectations of the game ahead.

“There are no easy games this season. I’ve said it numerous times and I think you’re starting to see it now. As the season is going on, a lot of the bottom teams are taking points off the top five and that gap is starting to close down a little bit, so we’re under no illusions that it’s going to be a big battle on Friday night. We need to go to Dunfermline, win the fight and then show our quality.”

Thistle have enjoyed some success on the road so far this campaign and Akinola is enjoying his travels throughout Scotland.

“For me, I don’t see a difference playing home or away because our fans give us such great backing on the road – they really travel in numbers everywhere we go. There has obviously been times where they haven’t been there but it seems like now we’ll have a big support everywhere we go. Having played in England you have a lot more travelling and with the exception of Inverness, and maybe Dumfries, everywhere is pretty close to get to, which I think helps with the numbers that follow us away from home.

“I play the same game home and away and I think that’s the case for the whole team at the moment because we’ve been good on the road as of late. You’ve just got to be aggressive and be solid defensively and that gives us a platform to hopefully get some goals.”

With three draws in the cinch Championship since the turn of the year, Tunji knows it is important to start turning those draws into wins going forward to take full advantage of a congested league table.

“Drawing a game is better than losing but for where we want to get to it’s time to start getting three points on the board as much as we can. With the games in hand that we’ve got with the teams around us we could really stamp our authority on this league if we take three points in these next couple of games.

“In football, whatever league it is, it’s important to get into a run of form so I think with some of the games coming up, if we get three points on Friday we can carry that into Tuesday and so on and so forth. So hopefully with some positive momentum we can get as many points as possible through this busy period of games we have ahead of us.”

Exclusive video interviews with Cammy Smith 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 Dunfermline Athletic, starting at 7:15pm – click here to tune in.

This fixture is being broadcast by BBC Scotland.

We’ll have extended highlights and a full game replay of the fixture on JagZone following the game.