Wednesday 26th October, 2016 at 11:43am
After a devastating blow came in the 95th minute of Saturday’s match against Ross County, a blow which ultimately cost Thistle the win, Alan Archibald is clearly focussed on righting the wrongs when his side come up against Dundee on Wednesday night. The Thistle gaffer spoke to ptfc.co.uk after training on Tuesday to look forward to Wednesday night and give all the latest team news.
“Saturday felt like the same old story again, we played well and let ourselves down with the late goal. I’ve been here before with the lads and it becomes a mindset which leads to the team as a whole dropping deeper and deeper.
“I know the defence has come in for some criticism but on Saturday it wasn’t just the defenders who were at fault, you have to look elsewhere too. There were plenty of opportunities to deal with the threat and we need to make sure we work as a unit in every area of the pitch.”
Although Saturday was clearly a disappointment, Archibald knows it is vital that the squad take the positives from recent displays.
“We have to take the positives from everything we do and know that it will turn around. We have to keep faith and continue to play the way we have been playing, especially going forward, and work on not dropping too deep during the nervier parts of the game but also ensuring we are cutting the individual errors out of the game.”
Wednesday night’s game is another chance for Thistle to put some distance between themselves and Dundee, something the manager is only too aware of.
“It’s the third or fourth game in a row that has been absolutely massive for us and each week they just seem to get bigger and bigger. The teams are still really bunched up at the lower end of the table and we need to make sure we are making the most of that situation.
“There’s no getting away from the fact that we have had a horrible start but we just need to focus on rectifying that from here on in. Every match at the moment is ever so important and we need to make the most of them. We need to win our games, there is such a thin margin in terms of performances and results but if you get a few results in a row it can make a massive difference.”
Finally, Archie gave us his latest team news, including an update on Liam Lindsay who left the pitch on a stretcher after a nasty looking clash with Ryan Scully.
“Liam should be fine, it was obviously a sore one for him but the reaction was more precautionary than anything else and he will be in the squad for Wednesday night. Chris Erskine could be involved after missing out on Saturday, he trained today so we’ll need to wait and see. Steven Lawless underwent surgery on his groin last week so he now faces around four weeks out as he recovers from that.”
