Saturday 23rd February, 2013 at 9:27pm
With the title races all but settled in three of Scotland’s four divisions tomorrow signifies the latest instalment in what is proving a compelling championship campaign in the First Division.
On Tuesday night Thistle won the first of their games in hand to edge that bit closer to the top of the league. The win over Hamilton was a narrow one and Alan Archibald, speaking to ptfc.co.uk after training today, is expecting a similarly tough encounter when we play Airdrie United at Firhill tomorrow.
“It will be interesting to see how Airdrie United will approach the game tomorrow. In the previous matches with them they haven’t really sat in the way others have at times and it could be that they will come to Firhill tomorrow and have a go. The important thing though is what we do. We’ll need to be patient. I’m sure that we will get chances throughout the game and it will be up to us to take them.”
The manager is in the happy position of having a full squad to select from.
“There were a few aches, pains and tired legs after Tuesday’s game, but everyone is fit. We also have Hugh Murray back after missing Tuesday through suspension. He’s available for the next two games before then missing the Dunfermline game. Paul Paton is also suspended for that game and it isn’t ideal having both out for the same game but we’ll deal with that when we need to.”
Playing Saturday, midweek, then Saturday again can put a strain on a squad and having everyone fit and available at least gives Alan the option to make changes should he feel that the side needs freshened up any.
“As I said, there were some tired legs after Tuesday’s game and it is at the back of your mind to make changes because of that. In doing so though you don’t want to upset the team too much and we are in the fortunate position of being able to make changes, if we want, without altering the shape of the team or change the way we want to play. There’s a couple of things that we might do but it would very much be a case of like for like if we did.”
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
3 1 1 9 6
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Chris Erskine 12
Steven Craig 10
Steven Lawless 10
Kris Doolan 8
Conrad Balatoni 4
Stuart Bannigan 4
Ross Forbes 3
Aaron Muirhead 3
Aaron Sinclair 2
Sean Welsh 2
Christie Elliott 1
Stephen O’Donnell 1
Own Goal 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Tuesday February 19th 2013
Partick Thistle 1, Hamilton Accies 0
Airdrie United Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 1 3 9 12
Scorers Season 2012-2013
John Boyle 9
Paul Di Giacomo 5
Ryan Donnelly 5
Jamie Bain 2
Nathan Blockley 2
Gregor Buchanan 2
Alan Cook 2
Willie McLaren 2
Josh Watt 2
Own Goals 2
Gavin Griffin 1
Jordan Moore 1
Kieron Stallard 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday February 16th 2013
Airdrie United 2, Hamilton Accies 2
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday December 29th 2012
Airdrie United 1, Partick Thistle 1
Teams
Airdrie United: Adam, O’Neill, Warren (Lilley), G Buchanan, Lamie, Barclay, L Watt, Blockley, Boyle (L Buchanan), Donnelly, McLaren (J Watt).
Thistle: Smith, Muirhead, Sinclair, Paton, Balatoni, Erskine, Archibald, Lawless, Bannigan, Craig, Welsh (Doolan), Erskine.
Scorers
Airdrie United: Boyle (41)
Thistle: Erskine (79)
Crowd: 1,617
Match Highlights
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday February 23rd 2013
Partick Thistle v Airdrie United
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults: £17
OAP (65+): £12
16-21: £12
Full Time Education: £12
Programme £2.50
Match Officials
Referee: Mike Tumilty
Assistant Referees: James Bee and Simon MacLean
Other First Division Fixtures
Cowdenbeath v Raith Rovers
Dumbarton v Falkirk
Dunfermline Athletic v Morton
Hamilton Accies v Livingston
