Saturday 22nd September, 2012 at 8:58pm
Having started the league season with five straight victories there is an air of expectation surrounding Firhill. An expectation that five straight victories will become six following tomorrow’s game with Cowdenbeath. That’s certainly the clear objective tomorrow but the challenge that Cowdenbeath will present is unlikely to be a straightforward one in either tomorrow’s league fixture or next month’s Ramsdens Cup semi-final.
The semi-final is obviously something for the future but before focusing on tomorrow’s important league game Jackie McNamara paused to reflect on Wednesday’s cup draw.
“We would rather have been given a home tie, and Central Park is a difficult ground to go to and win. That’s the draw that we’ve been given though and we just need to get on with it. Hopefully we can get through it, reach the Final and win the competition for the very first time.”
The priority though is league points tomorrow and Jackie is expecting a tough fixture when he meets up with an old friend.
“I know Colin Cameron very well having been at Wolves at the same time. He’s done really well as Cowdenbeath manager, leading them to promotion last season; and they’ve started well this season as well. They are sure to be really up for the game tomorrow and determined to knock us off our perch at the top of the table. That is a reflection of how well we have started the season and is something that we will need to handle.”
The manager so far this season has been able to field a fairly settled side but he will be without the services of a couple of players tomorrow.
“Both Steven Craig and Sean Welsh will miss this game. Steven Craig went for a scan on Monday to access the damage he did last week. The initial thoughts were that he would be out for about 4 weeks but we’re now hopeful that it might not prove to be that long.”
“Sean Welsh meantime has a problem with his thigh and we don’t know how long he will be out for. He picked up a bit of a dead leg the week before and then took another whack against Livingston. We’ll need to wait until the injury settles down a bit before we’ll have an idea of exactly how long he will be out for.”
It isn’t, however, all bad news.
“Kris Doolan should be okay. He trained with us yesterday and he’ll come back into the squad. With Christie Elliott doing so well when he came on last week I’ve got a bit of a selection headache in that regard. That’s the kind of problem that I want. There are a number of players who through no fault of their own that haven’t played that much this season. I need them when they do come into the team to try and make sure they aren’t left out again.”
In other team news sub goalkeeper Ryan Scully will again miss out with trialist Graeme Smith, as he did last weekend, sitting on the bench.
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
4 0 1 12 2
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Chris Erskine 6
Steven Lawless 6
Kris Doolan 4
Steven Craig 3
Stuart Bannigan 2
Christie Elliott 1
Aaron Sinclair 1
Sean Welsh 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday September 15th 2012
Livingston 1, Partick Thistle 2
Cowdenbeath Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
4 0 1 12 5
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Marc McKenzie 4
Lewis Coult 3
Kyle Miller 3
Jamie Stevenson 3
Kenneth Adamson 1
John Armstrong 1
Mark Ramsay 1
Greg Stewart 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday September 15th2012
Cowdenbeath 3, Morton 4
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday March 19th 2011
Partick Thistle 0, Cowdenbeath 1
Teams
Thistle: Fox, Paton, Boyle, McNamara, Robertson (Campbell), Archibald, McGowan, Rowson, Doolan, Grehan (Flannigan), Erskine (Fraser).
Cowdenbeath: Hay, Baxter, Vauls, Ramsay, Winter, Adamson, Miller, Makel (McKenzie), Stewart (Crawford), Campbell, Robertson.
Scorer
Cowdenbeath: Stewart (50)
Crowd: 1,754
Match Highlights
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday September 22nd 2012
Partick Thistle v Cowdenbeath
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults: £17
OAP (65+): £12
16-21: £12
Full Time Education: £12
Programme: £2.50
Match Officials
Referee: William Collum
Assistant Referees: Martin Cryans and Alan Hogg
Other First Division Fixtures
Dumbarton v Hamilton Accies
Dunfermline Athletic v Livingston
Morton v Raith Rovers
Falkirk v Airdrie United
