Saturday 2nd May, 2015 at 7:19pm
Given the way results have fallen for Thistle recently, Alan Archibald could be forgiven for relaxing as his team ease away from the playoff dog fight. In reality though, nothing could be further from the truth as the Jags boss remains focussed and determined to finish as high up the league as possible. He spoke to ptfc.co.uk as his team finished their final training session before the penultimate home game of the season.
“Given the form that we have been in recently, we can go into the game looking forward to the match. Our future is well and truly in our own hands and that is the position any team wants to be in. The lads will be completely focussed on getting us over the line as soon as possible and we still feel that seventh spot is a realistic goal for us between now and the end of the season.
“The pressure we were under a few weeks ago has eased a bit but we still need to make sure we get over the last hurdle to guarantee we are back in this league come next season. The sooner we achieve definite safety the better it is for everyone concerned.”
As the games tick by the importance of securing safety sooner rather than later is something all the staff at Firhill are well aware of.
“We left it until the second last game of the season last time and we don’t want to do that again. The sooner we are safe the sooner we can start talking to players about contract extensions and look at the areas we need to strengthen for next season.
“There are players available now and, if we can be certain of playing Premiership football next season, we can get a jump on the other teams whose futures are still uncertain. It really is massively important to know where we will be as soon as possible.”
Firhill is a good place to be at the moment as Thistle continue an excellent run of form which has seen them take 13 out of a possible 18 points in the last six games.
“It’s probably one of the best runs we’ve had since being back in the Premiership and the results have come against some very good sides as well. We’ve showed real desire and drive in recent weeks and we will certainly be looking to take that in to the game on Saturday.”
Consistency of selection has been important for Thistle as they have embarked on this run of results and it looks set to continue as the manager has no fresh injury concerns.
“The only two that are set to miss out at the moment are Sean Welsh and Dan Seaborne. Both are recovering well but we just need to take our tome with them. The important thing is it means we can keep the core of the team that played so well in Dingwall together and hopefully go add to this terrific run of results.”
