SPFL Ladbrokes Premiership
Sat 26 November, 2016. Kick Off: - 12:15
Firhill Stadium, Glasgow
Tickets for Saturday’s Ladbrokes Premiership clash against Rangers at Firhill are on sale for home fans. All home fans will be located in the Colin Weir and North Stands for this fixture.
Thistle supporters should note there will be no ticket sales on Saturday.
Prices for this fixture are as below:
Adult – £25
Conc. – £17
U16 – £5
Tickets can be purchased at ptfctickets, over the phone (0141 579 1971) or in person at the Firhill offices.
Any tickets purchased will not be posted out. These tickets will be available for collection from the Firhill offices only.
Disabled fans in wheelchairs are eligible for a concession ticket with a nominated career able to accompany them to the game free of charge and will be located in the North stand. Ambulant disabled fans are also eligible for concession rates and a free carer ticket but can choose to sit in either the North Stand or the Colin Weir Stand.
Thistle fans with a season ticket can use their season cards in either the Colin Weir or North Stands where there will be handheld card scanners. This means that, if you are a season ticket holder, you don’t need to do anything else – simply turn up as usual and use your season card at the Colin Weir or North Stand turnstiles.
Away fans – Rangers Football Club has been sent the full away allocation for this fixture and will be handling the sale of all tickets. No away tickets will be sold by Partick Thistle.
Alan Archibald was in a confident mood when he spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of Saturday’s clash with Rangers. Although the Jags boss knows it will be a tough test for his team he is looking to see a much improved performance from the disappointing display he witnessed last week at Fir Park.
Archie said: “It was a really disappointing one last week because we were way off it in terms of performance. We’ve only seen that once or twice this season and we’ll be looking for a good reaction this week.
“We’ve got a great group of boys here and we always see a reaction after a poor performance. We’ll be looking for just that on Saturday and we’ll need it because Rangers are a very good side who will punish teams of they aren’t on top of their game.”
In the wake of Saturday’s game Thistle have a run of seven very tricky games but Archibald knows it is the same for many of the teams and is certain his team have what it takes to make the best of the run.
“The run is tough but it’s mainly the number of games. If you have eight games in just over a month then you’re naturally going to play most of the teams in the league. What makes it look slightly worse for us is that we have Rangers, Celtic twice and Hearts but if you look at the end of the month we play the teams around us. Everyone has to play everyone so it isn’t a big deal for us. We just need to focus on our own preparation for each match and make the most of every opportunity to pick up points.
“The league is still so tight that places change hands based on single goals and individual errors. It’s going to stay like that for most of the season I think and we just need to focus on getting our performance levels back to where we know they should be.”
As every Thistle fan knows, it has been a long time since Thistle last beat Rangers, something Archibald is only to aware of and keen to correct.
“We had a similar record against Motherwell going into last week’s game and I think I said then that I don’t pay too much attention to those kinds of records. First and foremost I want to get back to winning ways at home. We haven’t made Firhill a difficult enough place for people to come to so far this season and that is something we want to correct. It would certainly be good to give our fans something to shout about.”
It was late heartbreak in the truest sense of the word for Thistle players and fans alike come 2pm on Saturday. Few would argue that Thistle deserved at least a point, if not all three, from the encounter with their cross city rivals but to come away with nothing was as bitter a pill to swallow as any that have been prescribed to Jags fans in recent years.
Alan Archibald took time to speak to ptfc.co.uk after the game but there was no hiding his disappointment.
The gaffer said: “We are bitterly disappointed there’s no other way to put it. We felt we deserved something from the game and I think a lot of the boys would even have been disappointed with a draw, given the performance.
“Although it is raw just now we are very proud of the lads. We asked for a reaction after the terrible performance last week and we certainly got that today. There were a huge number of positives to take and it’s just absolutely gutting that, as a result of nothing more than a slip from Abdul Osman, we come away with nothing.”
Thistle looked strong throughout but Archibald accepts that perhaps if his side had taken some of the chances that fell their way in the first half it might have been a different story.
“I thought we had the better of the first half. We contained them and created some good opportunities. They probably started the second half better but we settled into it as the game began to ebb and flow.
“We wanted to go and win the game and kept attacking with that in mind. We didn’t lose a goal by sitting too deep or being reckless with the ball it was really just a bit of bad luck. Granted, there was bad defending after that and the goal was avoidable but it certainly didn’t feel like the goal was coming.
“We were set up in a good shape and had good creative players to go and attack them. I feel we showed that for large spells today and I can’t overstate how disappointing it was to lose the goal in the way we did. It will take a couple of days to lift the boys but the Accies game on Saturday is a massive one and we need to make sure we go there with the best possible mindset.”
Sat 26 November, 2016
SPFL Ladbrokes Premiership 
Firhill Stadium, Glasgow
Rangers snatch it at the death.
Thistle throw down near the Rangers corner flag.
Foderingham grabs the free kick under his cross bar.
Thistle free kick at the corner of the Rangers box in line with the penalty spot.
Edwards' shot thumps off a defender.
Rangers level through Dodoo's volley.
A magnificent effort from Edwards clips the top of the bar.
Doolan is in the right spot at the right time to bundle the ball home from close range.
Welsh's corner is headed clear. He gets the ball back but is flagged for offside.
Booth's foreceful run eventually earns Thistle a corner.
Pressure mouting on the Thistle goal and Wallace spurns a good chance when he can't hit target from about 10 yards from the Jags goal.
Thistle are careless and a Dodoo shot is fumbled round the post for a corner.
McKay's corenr finds the head of Wilson but all he can do is nod tamely wide.
Elliott's near post cross is cleared.
Dodoo just on nearly opens the scoring but his shot is blocked by the body of Stuckmann and spins clear.
Erskine's corner to the back post curls out of play.
The action is coming at a fair old rate and Miller lashes a shot over the Thistle bar.
Stuckmann pushes away Halliday's cross before Osman clears.
Thistle are clsoe again this timne Foderingham saving, at the expense of a corner, from Erskine.
First effort of the second half from Thistle. Gordon gaves the ball to Erskine who in turn pasases to Elliott whose shot is saved.
Gordon sticks out a foot to make an important clearance.
Good chance for Rangers who have started the half well. Forrester skips past Bootrh and his near post cross is slid wide of goasl by Garner.
The corner finds Miller about 15 yards out and in space but he skies his shot high over the crossbar.
Thistle are lucky not to concede a penalty as Forrester goes down inside the box. All Rangers get is a corner.
It's been a frantic first 45 minutes with Thistle very much in this game. Indeed they may feel slightly unfortunate not to have something to show for their first half efforts.
That said it was Rangers that were the closest to a first half goal and would have scored but for a magnificent save from Stuckmann.
Garner clatters into Lindsay leaving both players in a heap on the ground.
Rangers have a free kick near the right touchline which they make a complete mess of.
Barton makes a great challenge inside the box after Thistle carelessly give the ball away.
Thistle are close to an opening goal. Erskine's neare post corner bounces about the box before it falls to Doolan whose shot is gathered by Foderingham.
Stuckmann makes a great save low to his left to prevent Rangers from snatching the lead.
Thistle shout for a penalty when Doolan hits the deck inside the box but referee Walsh waves play on.
Erskine's corner is gathered by Foderingham.
Great chance for Thistle. Amoo's shot is pushed away by Foderingham and Erskine's effort from the rebound is deflected wide of goal.
Forrester has room down the left but Barton clears.
It's been a frantic opening.
It's cold, crisp and clear as Thistle welcome Rangers to Firhill for an early afternoon kick-off.
After a disappointing display last weekend against Motherwell, Thistle will be hoping to bounce back with maximum points this afternoon and in trying to secure a welcome victory Alan Archibald has made three changes to the side that started against Motherwell at Fir Park seven days ago.
Into the starting eleven come David Amoo, Kris Doolan and Ziggy Gordon.
Danny Devine, Ade Azeez and Ryan Edwards are the three players that drop to the bench.