Saturday 14th May, 2016 at 1:33pm
Tomorrow’s fixture with Hamilton Accies brings down the curtain on the 2015/16 season, a campaign that has been successful for Thistle both on and off the pitch. Ptfc.co.uk caught up with manager Alan Archibald after the team’s final training session to get his views on another whirlwind campaign.
“It’s been another quick year. At times it didn’t feel quick and there were spells in games that went on for what like forever but come around 2.15 on Saturday that’ll be the competitive football done for two months.
“I think the club has definitely progressed in the last 12 months, although that probably won’t be reflected in our finishing league position as we seem almost certain to finish in 9th. We’ve got a number of key players signed up for next season and that will give us a good base to build on for next season.”
David Amoo was the latest to sign on for another campaign in red and yellow and the manager was pleased the flying winger has chosen to stay.
“David is a good player to get tied down. It took him around six months to get used to playing with us, and understanding what it is we want from him in an attacking sense. We’re looking for him to come back in pre-season ready to go for another campaign.
“We know that we need more goals next season and the addition of David will add to that threat. We’ve already got Chris Erskine lined up to come in and help our creativity so we’re always on the lookout for more quality in the final third.”
With a squad still depleted by injury the gaffer finds his squad stretched for the final league game of the season.
“We’re still down to the barebones in terms of numbers. Abdul Osman, Callum Booth and Christie Elliott all underwent surgery in the last couple of days and they are starting their recovery from now. Thankfully, we didn’t get any injuries during Tuesday night’s game against Dundee United and we’ll be able to look at utilising the same squad of players.”
The final game of the season gives the side a chance to sign off with a win, and surpassing last year’s points tally, something Archie would love the side to do.
“It’s the one objective that is left which we can fulfil. We want to beat last year’s points total and we can do that with a win. Our last couple of home games have ended in defeat and we’d like to send the fans away for the summer with their last memory being a Thistle win.”
