Friday 2nd August, 2013 at 2:00pm
A 3,367 day wait for the return of top flight football to Firhill is nearly at an end.
The sense of anticipation surrounding tonight’s game with Dundee United has been growing with every passing day since the fixtures for the new season were announced on June 19th. At 7:45pm tonight that anticipation will become reality.
When [link:HOME] spoke to manager Alan Archibald this morning he expressed his relief that the season will soon be off and running.
“There’s a bit of relief that we are getting started at last. The closer we’ve been getting to the game the longer it seems to have been taking. The excitement has been growing all the time and you could tell this week that the start of the real action was coming. To be fair you could pick up on that last week as well as we got ready for our only pre-season match at Firhill.”
Alan continued;
“Although today’s game is taking place on a Friday we’ve just treated it as if it were any other midweek fixture. The players have been giving the day off, we did all our preparation yesterday, with instructions on what to do and when. I think the fact that game is a night and will be played under floodlights just adds to the sense of occasion surrounding the match. There’s obviously been a lot of hype surrounding the game with Jackie and others returning to Firhill. All the issues between the two club were resolved a while back which I’m really pleased about. It will be important that my players stay focused on the job in hand and don’t get carried away with anything else going on.”
Has Alan already picked his team or will he wait till nearer kick-off time?
“I’ve a team picked in my head; a team that I think can go out and do the job we need them to do.”
The manager has almost a full squad to select from as he explains;
“Just about everyone is fit. The only player that is struggling to be involved is Jordan McMillan. Stuart Bannigan and Sean Welsh have trained really well this week after coming back from injury last weekend.”
Will any of the recent new signings be involved tonight?
“It could come a little too early for Gabriel but Isaac Osbourne has done a bit more training than the other new signings. He did a good 10-12 days pre-season training with Blackpool. Simon hasn’t really done much in the way of pre-season training other than training on his own and we’ll nurture him along.”
Alan went on;
“Having virtually everyone fit and available does mean that some players will have to miss out but I’ve stressed to the players that in what is going to be a tough season that we will need everyone at some stage or other. It’s an advantage too that we can list 7 substitutes so that’s another couple of players that will be stripped tonight. It’s good from my point of view as well; it’s good to know that I can look over my shoulder and see a number of different options open to me should I need to make changes.”
Match Details
Scottish Premiership
Friday August 2nd 2013
Partick Thistle v Dundee United
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Prices
Jackie Husband Stand
Adults £20
Concessions (Over 65, Students, Unemployed, Disabled + Carer) £14
Under 16s FREE
North Stand (over 16s only)
Adults £20
Concessions £14 (Over 65, Students, Unemployed, Disabled + Carer)
Main Stand (Away Support)
Adults £20
Concessions (Over 65s, Students, Disabled + Carer) £14
Under 16s £5.
Admission for this game is by cash on the turnstyle except for under 16s in the Jackie Husband Stand. They can collect a ticket from the Ticket office outside the Jackie Husband Stand or stewards will be handing them out.
Programme £3
Travel Information
Note from SPT for fans travelling by underground.
Match Officials
Referee: Craig Thomson
Assistant Referees: Alan Mulvanny and Graeme Leslie
Fourth Official: Bobby Madden
