Saturday 24th January, 2015 at 10:15am
Alan Archibald had to deal with a lively dressing room this week after such a stunning display on Wednesday night. The Thistle manager spoke to ptfc.co.uk about how preparations were going for Saturday’s clash with Kilmarnock.
“The boys certainly all had a spring in their step when they came in on Thursday, but you’d expect that given how Wednesday night went. It was a fantastic performance and result and the lads have been on good form since.
“The important thing is that we remember we have been here before. We’ve had some fantastic results this season but not followed them up and we just need to make sure we make the most of Wednesday night by winning on Saturday. We can go above Kilmarnock if we win and I don’t think there can be any greater incentive than that for the boys going into Saturday.”
More than anything else, Wednesday night brought a real belief to the Thistle camp.
“Wednesday night really brought everything together. You saw everything click. We know what we’re good at and we just need to play to our strengths, if we do that we can get results like we did this week. We’ll be looking for more of the same against Kilmarnock and if we can get that we have a great chance.”
The last time Thistle played at Rugby Park it was one of the team’s worst performances this season, a fact the manager is well aware of.
“It was our worst performance of the season, the players know that as well. Some of it was down to the pitch, or rather the player’s attitude towards it. I don’t think their heads were ready for it the last time, they don’t have that excuse this time as we’ve been training on astro for more than a month now because of the weather.
“Don’t take anything away from Kilmarnock though, they were very good that day. All we can do is prepare in the best way and make sure the players are ready to go out there and get the win. The most disappointing thing the last time was that we didn’t play as well as we know we can, Saturday is a great chance to put that right.”
The one blot on the copy book from Wednesday was yet another injury for club captain, Sean Welsh.
“Sean has had absolutely no luck at all. We’re all gutted for him. He was about to hit a 30 yard pass and the player has just clipped his ankle and Sean has kicked the ground pretty hard. His ankle blew up straight away and he went home with a boot and on crutches as a precaution. He’s out for Saturday and we just have to hope it isn’t too serious. We’ll do everything we can to help him and hopefully have him back soon. He’s a big player for us and we’ve missed him for a long time now but it looks like it’s back to square one for him for now.
“In terms of the rest of the team we should just about be back to full strength. Bannigan is back from his suspension and Gary Fraser seems to have shifted the illness he has been struggling with. Freddie Frans was a little stiff after Wednesday but he hasn’t played football for a good few weeks now so that is to be expected and he should be fine for Saturday.”
