Friday 28th October, 2016 at 5:32pm
Thistle boss, Alan Archibald, was a much happier figure when he spoke to ptfc.co.uk at Firhill on Friday. A terrific win at Dens Park on Wednesday night lifted the Jags up to ninth spot as they recorded their first win since the opening day of the season.
With a trip to St Johnstone coming on Saturday, Archie knows his team has a point to prove after a lacklustre first outing against the Perth side.
Archibald said: “There’s a totally different mood around the place after the win on Wednesday night and you can sense the relief in the players because that streak was starting to drag on and there was a danger it would become a monkey on our backs.
“We’ve had a few right sore ones recently where we have not managed to get the result over the line so to have taken all three points down the road with us was a great feeling. We’ve not been playing badly to be fair but I think that actually makes you feel worse after you lose points. We need to keep taking the positives and make the most of the boost that Wednesday night gave us.”
The trip to McDiarmid Park is made all the more important for Archibald’s side as they now face an incredibly tough run of games that sees them play Aberdeen and Rangers in close succession.
“We now have a run of really tough games ahead of us so it is vital that we go to St Johnstone and take something from the game. We dropped a lot of points in recent weeks against teams that are around us in the league and that has meant there is a little bit more pressure on these games than perhaps there needed to be.
“We had a good record against St Johnstone last season but that counts for nothing now. They came and turned us over comfortably at Firhill so I think we have a bit of a point to prove too. That was the one performance that was really disappointing in the league this term and we need to show that we are better than that.
“If you said there wasn’t a bad performance on the pitch on Wednesday night I don’t think there was a good one when we last played St Johnstone. We know we’re better than what we showed that day though and that’s the team we need to be on Saturday.”
St Johnstone could be seen as something of a role model club for Thistle, with consistent top half finishes to their name and a number of European appearances to boot.
“I’ve said a number of times how much I admire the work Tommy has done up there. He keeps that squad ticking over all the time and has unearthed one or two diamonds in that time as well.”
Finally, Archibald ran down his injury list which, it’s fair to say, is extensive.
“Ryan Scully will see a specialist because he dislocated his shoulder on Wednesday night which is obviously a blow. We’ve got Stuckmann though and he has a wealth of experience behind him so it’s a good back up to have. Osman and Lindsay are both 50/50 at the moment after they picked up impact injuries on Wednesday night.”
