Saturday 7th May, 2016 at 3:32pm
Thistle’s 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock secured the club’s Premiership status for another season and it was a visibly pleased Alan Archibald who spoke to ptfc.co.uk shortly after the full time whistle.
“It’s great to get over the line and finally secure our Premiership safety for another year. We knew that it was in ourown hands and we had three games to do it, so it’s great to seize the opportunity at the first time of asking.
“When you look at the start we had to the season, it’s great to secure safety with games to spare. The credit must go to theplayers who showed great resolve to go on an excellent run of form and we were in with a chance of top six on the very last game before the split. We took a while to get over that, but we’ve finally edged over the finishing line today.”
Thistle’s victory condemns Kilmarnock to a playoff slot and Archie was pleased with the way his side performed on the day.
“Kilmarnock were fighting for their lives today and we knew it would be a battle. We showed no fear and played well to get the win. The defence were excellent today, they gave Ryan Scully a lot of protection and he didn’t really have too much to do.
“Lawless grabbed an excellent goal at a great time for us and it gave us something to defend. Doolan did what Doolan does and netted a second. He had an unfortunate afternoon being flaggedoffside a lot, but he kept gambling and got his reward. It was a really hard opportunity for him to take on his left foot but he did really well with it.”
With two games still to play Alan is continuing to look up the table as the side look to finish the season on a high.
“We’re only three points behind seventh place and we’re going to keep pushing to try and catch the sides above us. With us now being safe we’ll have to look at the players available to us. A couple are on the verge of suspension and a couple have been carrying knocks so we’ll need to see how they are on Monday.”
Finally, the gaffer had a word of thanks for the Thistle support. “The fans travelled down in great numbers today and it really is appreciated. They’ve backed us through thick and thin and we owed them a performance after last week’s showing. We set out at the start of the season to make sure we were a Premiership side in 2016/17 and we’ve done that, but none of it would be possible without the support of the fans. They’ve got two games remaining in the season and I’m sure they’ll enjoy both of them, starting with Tuesday night’s trip to Tannadice.”
