Saturday 19th September, 2015 at 2:19pm
Thistle make the long trip to Dingwall for the latest Ladbrokes Premiership match of the season, in the unwanted position of being bottom of the league. Ptfc.co.uk caught up with Alan Archibald to see how the mood was in the camp.
“Training has been good, the players have worked hard and have tried to improve on the things that they didn’t do so well last week. All in all the lads have been in good mood and will be looking to put the training into practice.”
“The league table doesn’t make good reading. The good thing is that it is early on and we’re still in touching distance of the teams above us. A couple of wins will climb you up half the table but we know a gap can emerge pretty quickly.
“It’s strange as, apart from a couple of games, we’ve created chances against our opponents but we just can’t seem to find the back of the net. I’m confident that when we get a lucky break in front of goal, that the confidence will come back and the players will be able to get themselves out of the position we’re currently in. “
Archie was keen to stress that the importance that Thistle grab the opening goal of the game when they are doing well in matches.
“In this league, the first goal is absolutely vital. It gives us something to defend and a platform to build on for matches. We’re creating plenty of chances but we’re just unable to get ourselves in front and our shooting has to improve.
“We’ve had spells where we’ve absolutely battered teams but we haven’t made our dominance pay in terms of goals and it has come back to haunt us.”
Alan is aware of the test that Ross County pose tomorrow afternoon and knows his team will have to be on top form to take anything from the game.
“Ross County are a quality side, they went on a tremendous run from January to play their way out of the relegation slots and finish where they did. They have retained their key players, and added a few more to their squad and they’ll be dangerous opponents.
“That said, we do know their weaknesses and we’ll be looking to exploit them to the full. It’ll be a hard fought game as they will be determined to fight for every loose ball and work hard to put us under pressure. The lads know they’ll have to work ever so hard to match that work rate”
It’s almost a full Thistle squad which will travel north in the hope of getting the first win of the season.
“Christie Elliott is still long term injured, Gary Fraser is missing with an ankle knock he picked up against Falkirk and we’re assessing Mathias Pogba but will give him every chance to make the game.”
