Wednesday 12th July, 2017 at 12:35am
The return of competitive football comes this Saturday when Partick Thistle take on Livingston in the Betfred Cup. However, pre-season wasn’t quite over yet as the Jags took on Dumbarton in their final friendly before the visit to West Lothian this weekend. Unfortunately, the side suffered a 2-1 defeat to the Sons, however, a number of young players did get a run-out and Stuart Bannigan played 60 minutes in a match that had plenty of positives to take. Alan Archibald spoke to ptfc.co.uk following the clash.
Although disappointed with the end result, the gaffer was clear that tonight’s game was preparation for Saturday first and foremost and that the main aim of it was to get the players some minutes and get them ready for the cup fixtures.
“It was closer to a training session than to a competitive game in all honesty. That’s partly down to the fact that we were low on numbers with a lot of the development squad lads getting a chance and also because we don’t want to pick up any more injuries when the Betfred Cup is just days away.”
The manager was also pleased to see Stuart Bannigan continue his journey back to full fitness with an hour on the park at the Dumbarton Football Stadium.
“He’s featured a lot for us in pre-season which both he and I are delighted with. You can see that he’s still the same player, he just needs some time to get used to the demands of the game again. His technical play will keep getting better the more he’s on the pitch and we hope that will continue through the cup. He still wants to play the game at 100 miles per hour but we just have to make sure he isn’t over-working himself and manage his workload.”
Archie feels confident in his squad ahead of Saturday’s Livi clash.
“They’ll be more than ready by the weekend. I think the boys are just eager for the competitive football to come back. In pre-season games you’ll see certain players take more risks as they know the consequences aren’t as great so I think there will be a different feel and tempo to Saturday’s mach compared to the friendlies we’ve played.”
Although Livingston are from the league below Thistle, the boss is ensuring that his team experience no complacency that could lead to an upset.
“It will be a tough game. I reckon that it’s possibly the hardest group in the competition with three full time teams and Stranraer who are a good side, as well. So it will undoubtedly be a test of where we are as a squad. Ideally we can build up some momentum in the cup and take that into the league.”
So, with all the pre-season friendlies out of the way, Archie and his team can now turn their focus to the weekend and the return of competitive football. The Jags’ clash with Livingston kick-off at 15:00 from the Tony Macaroni Arena.
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