Saturday 13th April, 2013 at 9:43pm
Wednesday’s win over Morton was without question a very important one; one that put Thistle in a strong position at the top of the First Division. There, however, remains a job still to be done before we can look at season 2012-2013 as being a truly successful one.
That job begins tomorrow afternoon when we make the short journey to face an Airdrie United side that have already have caused Thistle problems this season. Our previous visit to Airdrie this season ended in a 1-1 draw and it took a spectacular goal from Chris Erskine, deep into the game’s final quarter, to settle the last game in Thistle’s favour.
ptfc.co.uk spoke to manager Alan Archibald a little earlier this afternoon and he knows that the job is a long way from being done.
“It was only really the media that were building up Wednesday’s game as a title decider; we know that it was anything but. Morton have got four games to play and we have to assume that they will win those four games and we need to take care of business ourselves. I think it was good to be able to give the players the day off yesterday and allow them to enjoy Wednesday’s win but it was back to business today with the focus firmly on tomorrow’s game at Airdrie.”
Alan continued;
“We struggled through there the last time we played them when we produced possibly our worst performance of the season and that, like tomorrow, was on the back of a big game in front of a big crowd. We didn’t start well that afternoon and it will be important that we start better tomorrow. I’ve seen highlights of their game last weekend against Morton and Morton started very well against them and that seemed to affect their confidence. We’ll be looking to try and do the same tomorrow.”
Going into the game the manager has no fresh selection worries to contend with.
“Aaron Muirhead is obviously suspended and Paul Paton and Hugh Murray are still out. I’m not sure how far either of them are from getting back. Out of the two I think Paul will probably be back first. Jordan McMillan is still ill. He’s been completely floored by this bug, we had a couple of players floored by the same bug earlier in the season. I spoke to him today and it is a frustrating time for him but the players will be in for training on Sunday and I hope he’ll be back in training then.”
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
3 2* 0 7 2
(* one of the draws ended in a 6-5 defeat on penalties)
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Kris Doolan 15
Steven Craig 14
Chris Erskine 14
Steven Lawless 13
Conrad Balatoni 5
Stuart Bannigan 4
Ross Forbes 4
Aaron Muirhead 4
James Craigen 2
Christie Elliott 2
Stephen O’Donnell 2
Aaron Sinclair 2
Sean Welsh 2
Own Goal 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League
Wednesday April 10th 2013
Partick Thistle 1, Morton 0
Airdrie United Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
0 0 5 5 15
Scorers Season 2012-2013
John Boyle 10
Ryan Donnelly 6
Paul Di Giacomo 5
Jamie Bain 3
Nathan Blockley 3
Alan Cook 3
Willie McLaren 3
Gregor Buchanan 2
Jordan Moore 2
Josh Watt 2
Own Goals 2
Gavin Griffin 1
Jordan Kirkpatrick 1
Sean Lynch 1
Kieron Stallard 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Tuesday April 9th 2013
Hamilton Accies 5, Airdrie United 0
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday February 23rd 2013
Partick Thistle 1, Airdrie United 0
Teams
Thistle: Fox, O’Donnell, Sinclair, Paton (Craigen), Muirhead, Balatoni, Forbes (Craig), Bannigan, Doolan, Lawless (Welsh), Erskine.
Airdrie United: Thomson, O’Neill, Griffin (Drummond), Buchanan, Evans, Hetherington, Bain, Blockley, Moore (Donnelly), John Boyle, Watt (Kirkpatrick).
Scorer
Thistle: Erskine (76)
Crowd: 3,021
Match Highlights
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday April 13th 2013
Airdrie United v Partick Thistle
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults £16
Concessions (over 60s, students) £10
Disabled and Carer £10 (should be pre-ordered from Airdrie United)
Child (under 16) £7
Parent and Child £20
Travel
How to get there
Supporters Bus Information
Rail: The nearest train station is Drumgelloch.
Match Officials
Referee: Paul Robertson
Assistant Referees: Dougie Potter and Alan Hogg
Other First Division Fixtures
Morton v Dunfermline Athletic
Livingston v Hamilton Accies
Raith Rovers v Cowdenbeath
