Thursday 18th May, 2017 at 8:30am
As the season’s end approaches it is an incredibly tough final two games that the Jags have to look forward to. With Celtic the visitors tonight and Aberdeen coming to Maryhill on Sunday Alan Archibald is determined not to let his side’s season peter out.
The Thistle boss spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of the clash and started by giving us his latest team news.
“It’s just the long term ones we’re missing – Sean Welsh, Gary Fraser and Ryan Scully. Mustapha has a question mark at the moment as he picked up a knock on his knee but apart from that we are fully fit and ready to go.”
There was an air of disappointment around the Firhill camp after the last match away to St Johnstone. A disappointing performance led to a 1-0 defeat but Archie and his coaches certainly weren’t going to let the players feel sorry for themselves as they continue to chase the first league win since the split.
“We spoke to the boys on Monday after the St Johnstone game because we felt the performance levels just dropped too far, especially after the good games we had against Hearts and for 80 minutes against Rangers. They’re an honest enough bunch though and they knew themselves that it wasn’t good enough.”
Archibald knows just how good Celtic have been this season but insists that he, along with all the players, take a great deal of heart from the fact they managed to earn a point the last time the two sides played. Having said that he was keen to emphasize that there will be no underestimating the champions when they make the short trip west across the city.
“Celtic are an extremely good side but we ran them close the last time out and managed to get a point out of Parkhead which has been a very rare thing this season. We competed well that night and I thought we were good value for the point we left with.
“We need to make sure we are ready for them tonight as, to be honest, I think they’re sometimes better away from home and have really hurt some teams this season – you saw that with Aberdeen last week. We know there is the odd weakness which is there to be exploited though and that’s what we did last time at Parkhead. On another day we might even have nicked another goal.
“We know it will be a tough night but we also know what we’re capable of so we’ll be giving everything to try and bring their run to an end and finish the season on a high.”
A more in depth video interview with Alan Archibald is now available to Jagzone subscribers. Log in now to see it. Jagzone members will also be able to watch highlights of the game from midnight.
Can’t make Firhill? Jagzone World members (outside the UK and Ireland) can watch the game live – the stream is also available on a PPV basis. Jagzone members can listen to live audio commentary of the match.
For a full list of all the great content you can access from just £5.99 per month as a Jagzone member, click here.
Alan has committed, will you join him? 2017/18 season tickets are now on sale.
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