Wednesday 2nd March, 2016 at 3:40pm
It was a delighted Alan Archibald who spoke to ptfc.co.uk shortly after the full time whistle, having seen his side secureall three points against St Johnstone.
“It’s good to see the side going back to doing the basics and that was the foundation of our success tonight. Everything we did poorly on Saturday, we did well tonight. On Saturday, Motherwell looked hungrier than us and that certainly wasn’t the case this evening.
“We set the tempo early on and gave ourselves a platform to defend. We conceded a poor goal in the second half and that gave a few nervy moments for the next 10-15 minutes but we got back in control and we were able to see the game out in relative comfort.”
Thistle were 2-0 up inside 12 minutes courtesy of strikes from Callum Booth and Steven Lawless and the gaffer was pleased with bth goals.
“It was great to get an early lead. Callum has shown great awareness to cut inside and hit it with his right foot as he is getting closed down. If it doesn’t find the back of the net, it’s probably going to fall to one of our other attackers so it’s a great ball to fire across the box. Lawless has developed a good habit of scoring great goals here, and his strike was a good quality one to double the lead.
“We know in this league that getting the first goal is vital. I think the last time we scored the first goal and lost was when we played St Mirren in September 2014 so it’s a great record to have and it shows our defensive solidity as we look to pick up points and climb the league.”
The result tonight fires Thistle up to 7th place in the league, but Archie is still keeping a keen eye on the sides below us.
“It’s a great three points to get but I’m not going to get carried away. We won last Tuesday and followed it up with a defeat and there is every possibility we could do the same again, although we obviously hope we don’t. We’re six points ahead of Kilmarnock, with a better goal difference, but the way this league works we could be back within touching distance of them in a couple of games. It really is that close.
“We’re looking up to catch the sides above us but we are now going into a run of three incredibly tough fixtures in seven days, which will prove a very difficult time for us. We can go into thegames and enjoy them without any pressure to pick up points and we’ll see where it leaves us.”
Finally the manager had a word for the travelling Thistle support.
“I thought the Thistle fans were incredible tonight. They never stopped supporting the side and got behind them when they were starting to wobble just after St Johnstone scored their goal. We’re pleased to send them home happy and hopefully it makes up, in some small way, for the disappointment they suffered on Saturday when they backed us in huge numbers again.”
