Saturday 27th February, 2016 at 3:40pm
Thistle manager, Alan Archibald, cut a disappointed figure when he spoke to ptfc.co.uk shortly after the full time whistle at FirPark. The game signalled the end of Thistle’s recent run of good form as the team in red and yellowfell to a 3-1 defeat.
“It’s bitterly disappointing to lose that game after the run of form we’ve been on. We can have no complaints about it though, Motherwell were the better side and thoroughly deserved the three points.
“All of the things we’ve been doing well over the last few months we didn’t do well at all today. In the first half, we were second best and we changed our shape at half time to try and get back into it. When it went to 3-0 it killed us, as you’re always in the game at 2-0 and getting a goal back gives you a chance to get back into it.”
Thistle fell behind due to a first half penalty by Louis Moult and Archie had no qualms about the decision.
“It’s a penalty. It’s unfortunate because Aidan has done what we’ve asked of him and tracked Lasley into the box, but he’s clipped him. We replaced him at half time, not down to his performance, but due to our system not working. It’s something he’ll have to learn from, but he’s one of the boys so I’m sure he’ll come out of it as a better player.”Thistle conceded two second half goals which meant they trailed by three, something Alan was very disappointed with.
“It’s annoying to concede a couple of poor goals as we’ve been defensively great for long parts of the season. The second goal comes from a throw in, while the third is a breakaway after we’ve been on the attack. If we were only two goals down by the time Booth grabs a goal back, then we maybe make them a lot more nervous, but to come back from three goals is an enormous ask and one that proved too big for us this afternoon.
”Callum Booth grabbed his first Jags goal today and the gaffer was pleased to see him off the mark.
“It’s been a long time coming from Callum. He’s been great for us this season, playing every match and he’s been desperate to score. He has the confidence to strike the ball from the edge ofthe box and has been unlucky in the past. Fortunately, today it has taken a nick and squirmed into the net. It’s just a shame his first goal for the club wasn’t more than a consolation.”
With a trip to Perth just days away, Alan is determined that his squad won’t feel sorry for themselves and will seek to return to winning ways once again, quickly.
“With the nature of our fixture backlog, we’ve got games every few days so if we can get a good result on Wednesday then today’s result will have been forgotten. We’ll have everybody in on Monday and we’ll look to see how everyone is before starting to prepare for our trip to Perth on Wednesday night.”
