Friday 8th March, 2019 at 12:26pm
Kris Doolan is just over a week away from joining some of the most iconic names in Partick Thistle history when he is inducted into the Partick Thistle Hall of Fame. In the meantime though the Striker is hoping to further write himself into Jags legend by helping the side up the table and out of trouble.
That mission restarts on Saturday as Thistle face Dundee United at The Energy Check Stadium at Firhill and he is hoping to recall the spirit the team showed on Monday night to earn a replay against Hearts.
Speaking to exclusively to ptfc.co.uk he said: “It goes without saying that every game is a big one at the moment. We are at home and it’s an important league match. We put the cup game out our minds for now and we have to focus on the league and trying to get the club safe as soon as possible.
“We’ve got to take the positives from the match against Hearts. While it’s great we’ve got a replay and another match to look forward to in the cup, we have to get back to league business and focus on what we need to do on Saturday.
“We have to put the replay out of our minds completely, we know how important the match on Saturday is and that’s the key thing in our minds. We’ve got to go out at home and look to take all three points.”
After a fantastic start to the year, poor results against Dunfermline and Ross County have sent Thistle back to the foot of the table. Doolan is hoping to get back to the form that saw that winning run which transformed confidence levels across the Club.
“We’ve shown what a couple of results can do and after two disappointing second half performances we have to get back to winning ways. We have slipped down the league again in the last two games and we have to now look to put another string of positive results together, starting Saturday.
“We got a good result in Dundee last time out against United and it was probably the best we’ve played in the first half. We have to go out and put in a similar performance because we know they are a tough team and it will be a hard game. They strengthened in a similar way to us in January. They have a lot of new players but their playing style hasn’t changed much so we can still take confidence from the Tannadice performance.”
Doolan had to watch on from the bench against Hearts but he knows he has been there before and will continue working hard as he always has to regain that starting place.
“Obviously not getting on in the last game was tough, but you look to get back into the team as soon as you can. It’s difficult but that is up to me to work hard, to get my head down and earn my place back in the team. I always do that and hopefully a chance will come along.
“I’ve been in that position before; it’s the way it should be for everyone. You have to work hard, you believe in yourself and just need to be ready to contribute when called upon.”
The Thistle number nine will become the first current player to be entered into the Partick Thistle Hall of Fame a week on Saturday and it’s something of which he is immensely proud.
“It’s a great honour for me to be inducted into the hall of fame. It’s a night I’m greatly looking forward to and hopefully everyone that comes along is too. It’s set to be a great night and I hope everyone enjoys it.
“It’s something that wouldn’t have been in my wildest dreams when I joined the club. To play 10 years at a club is a long way off when you join, to score more than 100 goals is a big thing but to go into the hall of fame is off the chart and beyond what I could ever have imagined.”
Kris admits it’s an extremely proud night for him and one which he has to thank the club for.
“It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to this point but it’s such an unbelievable honour and I thank the club for bestowing it upon me. The names that are already in the hall of fame are very special to this club so to have mine amongst them is amazing for me.
“It feels that much better being the first current player to go in. You tend to think it’s players who have left the club a long time ago or even passed away before they have been entered. To do it while I’m still here and playing is huge and it’s something I can’t’ thank the Club enough for.”
More exclusive preview interviews with Aidan Fitzpatrick, Miles Storey and Jags manager, Gary Caldwell, are available to Jagzone subscribers – log in now to see them.
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Can’t make it to The Energy Check Stadium at Firhill? Jagzone members can listen to live audio commentary of the match. JagZoneLIVE begins at 2:45pm on Saturday.
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