Friday 10th August, 2018 at 5:10pm
League football returns to the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill this Saturday as Falkirk visit Glasgow on Ladbrokes Championship matchday two. Thistle come into the game looking for a first win of the new league campaign and will have a slightly larger squad than was on show last time out as Andrew McCarthy and Christie Elliott both return from suspension with Jack Storer hoping to play a part following illness last weekend.
Thistle manager, Alan Archibald spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of the competitive season’s sixth fixture.
The Jags gaffer began by touching on the significance of Saturday away from the football as the Club prepares to honour Thistle legend, David McParland who unfortunately passed away last month.
“Everyone was very sad to hear of Davie’s passing as he’s obviously a hero here at Thistle. I was able to be at his funeral and the turnout there was great, however, it’s good that we also have the chance to pay our respects to him at the stadium where he spent so much time. What he did for this club is unmatched by anyone and hopefully we have a good turnout at the weekend to give him a suitable send off.”
This week’s opposition, Falkirk, offer a bit of an unknown challenge for Thistle. The Bairns have signed more players than any other Championship side this summer but Archie says his team will be fully briefed on their opponents ahead of the game.
“They’re going to be an almost completely different side to the one from last season, not too dissimilar to ourselves. Their games this season have all been at the same times as ours so I haven’t seen them play live but I’ve watched a lot of footage and we’ve used what we’ve seen to educate the players. Footage doesn’t tell you everything though and their squad isn’t settled yet so I’m sure Paul Hartley will still be changing some things around which means we have to be ready for anything.”
With McCarthy, Elliott and Storer all hopefully back in contention Archibald will have additional options available to him this weekend, a factor he says could make the difference.
“Having Christie, Andy and Jack back gives us a wee bit more to choose from. Of course, Christie’s suspension left us without a natural right-back but now he’s returned to contention which is great. Andy and Jack bolster our midfield options and having more bodies means we have the opportunity to change things and have more of an impact on the game in the later stages – I didn’t really have that option last week. Andy and Jack both played in a reserve bounce game this week so that should help to get them up to full match sharpness.
“Regardless of who we have available, it is vital that we stick to our game plan. We didn’t do that well enough in the last two games and individual errors cost us dearly. We have always known how hard this league is going to be so we have no excuses from that point of view. A campaign isn’t ruined or written off on the first day though and we’ve been working hard all week to continue building the relationships across our squad that will bring success this season – hopefully that starts on Saturday.”
More exclusive preview interviews with Christie Elliott, Chris Erskine and Jags gaffer, Alan Archibald, are available to Jagzone subscribers – log in now to see them.
Jagzone members will also be able to watch extended highlights of the game.
Can’t make The Energy Check Stadium at Firhill? Jagzone members can listen to live audio commentary of the match. JagZoneLIVE begins at 2:45pm on Saturday afternoon.
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