Saturday 27th April, 2019 at 9:30pm
Partick Thistle missed a chance to secure their place in next season’s Ladbrokes Championship as they were beaten at the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill by Ayr United.
Things had looked good for the Jags when Shea Gordon put them 1-0 up early on but goals from Liam Smith and Aaron Muirhead on either side of the halftime break saw the Honest Men claim a comeback victory in Maryhill.
The result means that, although Thistle are now safe from automatic relegation, they go to Queen of the South next Saturday with ninth place still a possibility. Jags boss, Gary Caldwell spoke to ptfc.co.uk following the final whistle, beginning by discussing the 90 minutes overall.
“We started the game well and got in front early on but then suddenly, as a team, we decided not to play. We didn’t run, we didn’t do simple things and I told the players after the match, when you do that you’re going to lose.
“We have a week now to learn from today. We have to take responsibility as football players and prepare for what is a massive game. I’ve been involved in those last game of the season battles before and it’s tough so we’ll regroup on Monday and prepare those players for the game.”
Reflecting on what was a performance which fell well below the standards set in recent weeks, the gaffer struggled to pinpoint exactly what went wrong.
“I don’t really have words to describe that performance right now. It’s a really tough one to take because there was nothing Ayr did tactically that broke us down but we stepped back and let them into it and when you do that, it gives the opposition control.
“Again, we just have to dust ourselves down and learn from the game because we can’t afford to take our foot off the gas in any way at Palmerston next week.”
The Jags survival remains in their own hands which is one of the only positives to take from a dismal Saturday afternoon.
“That’s the only pleasing thing to come out of today. We’ve said for weeks that we will judge ourselves come the final whistle of the final game of the season and as things stand, we still have control of where we’ll be come that time.
“There’s a disappointment today, of course, but in football you have to bounce back and show resilience so we’ll be prepared for a big match next Saturday.”
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