Tuesday 19th February, 2013 at 9:26pm
For some time now we have been talking about the games we have in hand, the points that they might produce and the potential significance of those points.
Tonight the first of those games in hand will be played and as Alan Archibald explained when he spoke to ptfc.co.uk it’s time to turn those games in hand into points.
“This is when it really counts. With Morton not playing we need to take advantage of that and get the three points. We know that it is going to be a very difficult game. Hamilton’s situation isn’t too dissimilar to our own. Like us they’ve had a lot of games postponed and because of that they’ve found themselves dragged into the relegation battle although I do believe that their current league position is a bit of a false one.”
Alan continued;
“Hamilton need the points just as much as we do and I’m not sure how they will approach this game. They were content to sit in and play on the counter attack and use the pace of Steven May when we played them at Hamilton but I wouldn’t be surprised that if their need of points means that might have a go in this game. They’ve got a lot of really good experienced players like Martin Canning and Alex Neil and have a really solid spine to their team. Steven May is obviously a good player and was a real threat the last time that we played them.”
“We’re at the stage of the season where getting the win is all that really matters. The Thistle fans have been great all season and I expect that they will come out for this match as well but there is unlikely to be the same kind of atmosphere as there was at Morton on Saturday. We’ll need to create our own atmosphere and make sure that we are really up for this game.”
It does look as if Alan will have virtually a full squad to select from.
“Hugh Murray is obviously suspended after his red card on Saturday but him aside I’m hoping that every should be fit. Sean Welsh took a couple of knocks on Saturday and we’ll need to wait and see how he is but I’m hoping he’ll be fine. Aaron Sinclair and Steven Craig also picked up knocks on Saturday but they should be fine. I probably should have taken Steven off before I did on Saturday but I wanted to keep his physical presence at set plays.”
“Stephen O’Donnell came off the bench on Saturday and did fine and he is getting fitter all the time and he is available for this match.”
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 2 1 10 8
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Chris Erskine 12
Steven Craig 10
Steven Lawless 10
Kris Doolan 8
Conrad Balatoni 4
Stuart Bannigan 4
Ross Forbes 3
Aaron Muirhead 2
Aaron Sinclair 2
Sean Welsh 2
Christie Elliott 1
Stephen O’Donnell 1
Own Goal 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday February 16th 2013
Morton 2, Partick Thistle 2
Hamilton Accies Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 1 2 8 7
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Steven May 11
Ali Crawford 6
Jonathan Page 3
Jon Routledge 3
Grant Gillespie 2
James Keatings 2
Louis Longridge 2
Darian MacKinnon 2
Michael Devlin 1
Alex Neil 1
Own Goal 1
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Friday November 16th 2012
Hamilton Accies 1, Partick Thistle 0
Teams
Hamilton: Cuthbert, Gordon, McGlinchey (Ryan), Canning, Page, Devlin, Longridge (Gillespie), Routledge, May, Crawford, Finnie (Fraser).
Thistle: Smith, O’Donnell, Sinclair, Paton, Muirhead, Archibald, Lawless (McGuigan), Balatoni, Doolan, Forbes, Erskine.
Scorer
Hamilton: Crawford (40)
Crowd: 2,450
Match Highlights
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Tuesday February 19th 2013
Partick Thistle v Hamilton Accies
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Prices
Adults: £17
OAP (65+): £12
16-21: £12
Full Time Education: £12
Programme £1
Match Officials
Referee: Des Roache
Assistant Referees: John Gilmour and Lorraine Clark
Other First Division Fixture
Falkirk v Livingston
