Saturday 9th April, 2016 at 1:47pm
Thistle go into a do or die game with Ross County knowing that only a win will give the side a realistic chance at clinching a top six berth. It’s a match all at Firhill are firmly focussed on and ptfc.co.uk caught up with manager Alan Archibald shortly before the team bus departed for the highlands.
“At the start of the week we asked the players to give us a chance of winning a top six slot in Dingwall and they have done that. We know that it isn’t entirely in our hands but we need a win to give us the best possible chance of being in one of the six slots.
“We don’t want to come off the pitch with any regrets about not having won the game against County and that we weren’t able to take advantage of other teams slipping up.”
Thistle’s recent games with County have been tight clashes with only one goal separating the sides in each of the last three games.
“We’ve been evenly matched with County this season with both teams winning a game each 1-0. County are an open side who attack and we’ll have to be on our guard against them. They have a number of quality attackers who can pose problems to any side in the league.
“We’re going to go up with a gameplan and we’ll implement it as we try to get three points. Both teams know that a draw won’t be enough for top six so it’s bound to be an entertaining end to end game.”
Mathias Pogba and Callum Booth were the latest to extend their Firhill stay and the gaffer is delighted to have both players on board for next season.
“Callum has been exceptional for me. He hasn’t missed a game in a calendar year and he’s played every minute of this season with a number of strong consistent performances for us. He’s a great age and will continue to improve with games.
“Mathias is a very unselfish player. He holds the ball up well and brings others into play with lots of great play outside the box. We’d love him to be a little bit more selfish and get himself into the box more often to finish off the chances. I think we’ll see the best of him next season when he has a full pre-season under his belt.”
Finally the gaffer brought us up to date with all team news.
“Gary Fraser and Frederic Frans, both of whom were substituted on Tuesday night, are major doubts for the game. Freddie trained today so we’re hopeful that he’ll be fit enough to play. Liam Lindsay will return to the squad for the game after recovering from his hamstring injury.”
