Saturday 1st September, 2012 at 8:54pm
There was disappointment in Hamilton on Tuesday night when we suffered our first defeat of the season. We are, however, at the stage of the season where the football comes at a fair old rate and Saturday afternoon provides us with the opportunity for revenge with a league fixture against the same opposition.
Tuesday’s unfortunate defeat doesn’t detract from the quite excellent start that we have made to the league season. The three games played have produced nine points and a position at the top of the league. Nobody is getting carried away by the fact that we top the division after just 270 minutes of football, but there is no denying that there is an air of optimism around the Club at the moment. To keep that feeling going we will need three points against a Hamilton side that showed on Tuesday night that they will a tough proposition to overcome.
On Thursday Thistle were able to add to the squad with the loan signing of Steven Craig from Ross County, the 31 year old following in his father’s footsteps by pulling on a Partick Thistle jersey. Steven, as you might expect, will go straight into the squad for Saturday’s game. Said Jackie McNamara when speaking to www.ptfc.co.uk;
“Steven trained with us for the first time on Thursday and he will be included in the squad for Saturday’s game. It’s been a wee while since Steven last played competitive first team football and he will need a little time to get up to full match sharpness. I fully expect him to give us a good turn while he is at the Club. I’ve felt that we’ve lacked a little experience up front and Steven will help add that and take a little bit of the pressure off Kris Doolan. He’ll help in terms of getting the ball to stick up front and he’ll help us keep possession of the ball.”
Steven Craig won’t be the only addition to the squad that Thistle took through to New Douglas Park midweek.
“It’s good to be able to welcome back Hugh Murray who missed Tuesday’s game through suspension. He too will bring extra experience to the side. His organisational skills have been excellent so far this season. Indeed the side that we have been fielding in the league has been playing very well and the shape of the team seems to suit us.”
In addition to David Rowson, who remains on the injury list, there are a couple of injury doubts ahead of Saturday’s game as the manager reveals.
“We are going to have to wait on both Aaron Muirhead and Steven Lawless, both of whom are carrying slight knocks. Aaron was in the wars on Tuesday night picking up a number of knocks. Steven meantime took a kick to the back of his ankle. We are hopeful that both should be okay for what is a massive match for us.”
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
4 0 1 12 6
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Kris Doolan 4
Chris Erskine 4
Steven Lawless 3
Stuart Bannigan 2
Christie Elliott 1
Aaron Sinclair 1
Hamilton Accies Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 1 2 4 4
Scorers Season 2012-2013
Ali Crawford 2
Darian MacKinnon 1
Jon Routledge 1
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday September 1st 2012
Partick Thistle v Hamilton Accies
Prices
Adults: £17
OAP (65+): £12
16-21: £12
Full Time Education: £12
Programme £2.50
Match Officials
Referee: Steven McLean
Assistant Referees: Stuart MacMillan and Thomas Clark
Other Fixtures
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Dunfermline v Raith Rovers
Morton v Dumbarton
Airdrie United v Cowdenbeath
Falkirk v Livingston (Sunday)
