Saturday 10th November, 2012 at 9:08pm
The waiting is almost over. Tomorrow’s fixture between the First Division top two teams is an eagerly anticipated one. Eagerly anticipated by fans, players and by Thistle manager Jackie McNamara who spoke with [link:HOME] ahead of the game;
“I think tomorrow’s game will be a great spectacle and a fantastic advert for First Division football. It’s a fixture between two teams who like to attack and I’m certain that Dunfermline will come to Firhill brim full of confidence. It will certainly be a really stiff test for us but I think that everyone is really looking forward to the occasion. Hopefully there will be a big crowd inside Firhill creating a fantastic atmosphere. The Thistle fans have given us great backing both home and away this season and I suspect that the Dunfermline fans will travel through in good numbers as well. “
“We hope too to welcome members if the armed services to tomorrow’s game. The Club are offering all members of our armed services free admission to today’s game. We make use of the army’s fantastic facility at Catterick during pre-season, which is of great help to us, and it is good to be able to give something back.”
“Looking at the game itself, we will likely be without three players tomorrow. Steven Craig will miss out through suspension, and will miss next week’s game at Hamilton as well, while Sean Welsh is injured. We still don’t have a definitive timescale for Sean’s return but we are looking at about a month. Although that is obviously a blow, at the time we thought that he had suffered a break and it would be several months before he would be back, so it could have been a lot worse than it has proved to be. Stuart Bannigan meantime is still struggling and he is a major doubt for the game.”
“On the plus side Hugh Murray has recovered from the illness that kept him out of last Saturday’s game with Cove Rangers and he comes back into contention for a place in the team. “
“We are much better placed to handle injuries this season than we were last season. We’ve had good players that have had to wait patiently for a place in the side. Aaron Sinclair is a perfect example of that. Through no fault of his own he had to wait for his chance in the team this season. I thought he did well last week and he is now the man in possession of the jersey and it is up to him to keep it.”
“As I have already said tomorrow’s ame is one that we are all looking forward to. After our 7-0 win over Airdrie United I was interested to see the players’ reaction to it. Our next game after that was against Falkirk and with the way they set their team out that afternoon it proved to be a frustrating afternoon. We will come up against that approach on a number of occasions and we will need to learn how to contend with. I don’t, however, see tomorrow’s game as being one of those occasions.”
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
3 1 1 11 4
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Chris Erskine 8
Kris Doolan 7
Steven Lawless 7
Steven Craig 5
Stuart Bannigan 2
Ross Forbes 2
Aaron Muirhead 2
Sean Welsh 2
Christie Elliott 1
Aaron Sinclair 1
Own Goal 1
Last Game
William Hill Scottish Cup Third Round
Saturday November 3rd 2012
Partick Thistle 2, Cove Rangers 1
Dunfermline Athletic Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 2 1 10 5
Scorers season 2012-2013
Andy Barrowman 8
Ryan Wallace 6
Ryan Thomson 5
Josuha Falkingham 2
Stephen Husband 2
Joe Cardle 1
Craig Dargo 1
Andy Dowie 1
Stephen Jordan 1
Andy Kirk 1
Jordan McMillan 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday October 27th 2012
Dunfermline Athletic 3, Cowdenbeath 0
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday August 18th 2012
Dunfermline Athletic 0, Partick Thistle 1
Teams
Dunfermline: Gallacher, Geggan, Jordan, Dowie, Potter, McMillan (Husband), Cardle, Thomson, Barrowman, Falkingham (Kirk), Willis (Whittle).
Thistle: Fox, O’Donnell, Bannigan, Paton, Muirhead, Archibald, Lawless, Welsh, Doolan (Elliott), Murray, Erskine (Craigen).
Scorer
Thistle: Lawless (23)
Crowd: 3,540
Match Highlights
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday November 10th 2012
Partick Thistle v Dunfermline Athletic
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults: £17
OAP (65+): £12
16-21: £12
Full Time Education: £12
Under 16s: Free
Armed Forces: Free
Programme: £2.50
Match Officials
Referee: Calum Murray
Assistant Referees: Graham McNeillie and Martin McCarthy
Other First Division Fixtures
Airdrie United v Livingston (Friday)
Cowdenbeath v Dumbarton
Morton v Hamilton Accies
Raith Rovers v Falkirk
