Saturday 19th December, 2015 at 2:05pm
With confidence high around Firhill it was a very content Alan Archibald who spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of Saturday’s match against Ross County. With a potential place in the top six up for grabs, Archibald was quick to stress the importance of remaining focused in the run up to the game.
“It’s incredible really, the fact that we can go top six this week if we win but could have gone bottom two last week if we had lost just shows how tight the league really is. The run we’re on at the moment has given us a great chance of top six and we’re right in that pack again.
“Going on a run of wins makes a massive difference around the place. We’ve really kicked on since the first win against Dundee United and it’s fine margins at times but we just need to keep this going for as long as we can. Every season since we came up we have had one bad quarter, hopefully that’s out of the road now and we can just concentrate on looking above us and climbing the table.”
The recent run of form has seen Thistle drive up the table as they have consistently beaten those teams around them in the league, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Archibald and his management team.
“For me there is no greater incentive for a side than having the chance to go out and move up the table. We’ve had it in the last few weeks and we have it again this weekend, we just need to ensure we make the most of the opportunity.
“Everyone spoke about the start County had but we can reel them in this week if we win and that is huge reward for the effort the team is putting in at the moment.”
With the January window fast approaching, the Firhill wheels are already in motion to strengthen the Jags’ squad.
“We’ve got our eyes on a few players and we will be looking to bring in as much quality as we can during the January window. It’s a horrible window to do business in as everyone is waiting on everyone else moving players so it can be very difficult. We have our shortlist though so we’ll work hard to get those players who are towards the top end of that list.”
Finally, Archie gave us an update on the state of his squad in terms of injuries.
“Gary Fraser is still struggling after picking up an ankle knock ahead of the match against Dundee United and Christie Elliott is still out, although he has been running and we hope to have him back to some light training soon. Other than that, Robbie Muirhead comes back into contention having sat out last week’s game against his parent team.”
