Saturday 24th October, 2015 at 2:11pm
Alan Archibald spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of the Ladbrokes Premiership clash between Alan Archibald’s Jags and Martin Canning’s Hamilton Accies.
“Training’s been very good. Obviously, two back-to-back wins meant the boys were bright on Monday morning and we are looking towards Hamilton.”
The manager expressed his delight over the defensive display in the second-half at McDiarmid Park.
“It’s a very hard place to go and they were a team in-form as well. We lost the goal two minutes into the second-half which gave all the momentum to St. Johnstone. We were dropping too deep for long spells of that second half but there was some great defending, last-ditch defending as well so it was very, very pleasing.”
Alan also feels that Thistle are finally beginning to get the rub of the green this season.
“I think if we’re honest enough, in a few games we were really poor. Hearts and Celtic stand out. In some other games we’ve done alright and there wasn’t a lot in it. We scored two fantastic goals but on another day they would have hit the post for us, the way things had been going.”
Archibald had his own views on the controversial incident near the end of the game.
“Obviously we got a wee bit of luck with Abdul’s (Osman) handball. It was maybe borderline at the edge of the box. Over the last nine or ten games the breaks haven’t really gone for us but they say that it irons itself out over the season and hopefully that’s the case now. There’s not a lot in some games and you just need to go on a run. We did that last year, in the second half of the season, and that’s all it takes to propel yourself up the league and get you out of that danger area.”
The manager aims to push on from these two victories and get Thistle to a safe position.
“We’ve only won two games and we’re still second bottom, we want to get away from there as quickly as we can.”
He was also optimistic about the team’s chances against a Hamilton side who haven’t won in their last two games.
“We’re at home, which gives us a great opportunity to continue our form. We’re against a tough Hamilton side, they’re always competitive and they’ve got a few match winners as well, but we know we’ve got a great chance at home.”
Ali Crawford could miss the clash through injury and Archibald spoke about his importance to the Accies.
“I think the goals he brings to his team is always a bonus for them. We’ll plan for a game with or without him; we need to look at ourselves and how we can hurt Hamilton. We need to go out and try to win the game, we are the home team. If he’s playing we obviously need to take care of him and try to keep him quiet.”
Due to Abdul Osman’s suspension, the managerial team have a decision to make regarding who will attempt to fill his boots.
“We have got a bigger squad now. It’s good to have choices to make. Our bench looked strong last week and four or five weeks ago we didn’t have those choices. Now we have some different personnel to choose from and it’s a good problem to have.”
We were also updated on squad news for Saturday. The manager told us that Mustapha Dumbuya will be available despite missing the St. Johnstone game through illness, Christie Elliot remains out with a longer term injury. Mathias Pogba and Stuart Bannigan have suffered from hamstring problems through the week but should be fit.
Thistle take on Hamilton on Saturday with a 3pm kick-off. Kids go free as usual so come along and support the Jags as they look for their third win on the bounce.
