Saturday 28th November, 2015 at 2:06pm
Alan Archibald caught up with ptfc.co.uk earlier today with confidence still flying high around Firhill on the back of last weekend’s win, which saw Thistle rise to 10th in the table.
“There is nothing better than moving up the league table after a win. We had been in that playoff slot for a while now, but we’ve hung in there and taken our chance to move out of it. Saturday is another massive game as we know a win takes us up to 9th.”
The artificial surface at Kilmarnock has attracted some attention in the media, but Thistle’s record on them in the last couple of seasons has been positive with only one defeat from four games.
“The surface is the same for both sides and, although we didn’t win a game on that style of surface last year, with only one defeat, it shows that it wasn’t the massive game changer it is often made out to be. We’ve been training on astroturf for the last couple of weeks due to the bad weather, with the heavy rain meaning grass pitches aren’t easy to get, so we’ll be used to the conditions – no excuses.
“The surface won’t affect our gameplan. We’ll set up our team to go and win the game, but we won’t adjust our style to overcompensate for an unfamiliar surface. Kilmarnock will be very tough opponents, they managed to get a great draw against Celtic last weekend and we know they’ll be dangerous.”
It’s virtually a full squad that Archibald will have to choose from for the trip to Rugby Park.
“We’ll have Stuart Bannigan back after suspension and he’ll be a welcome return to the squad. The only long term injury is Christie Elliott who is still continuing his rehabilitation and this Saturday may very well come too soon for Tomas Cerny. He’s trained a couple of times this week and we’ll get consultation from the medical team as to whether he will be fit to go.”
Finally, the manager took time out to recognise of Kris Doolan’s contribution to the football club as the striker made his 250th appearance for the club last weekend.
“Kris has been a tremendous servant to the club and thoroughly deserves to have made his 250 appearances. He has been great for me and anytime he has dropped out the team he has worked hard to get back into the side and prove his critics wrong.”
