Saturday 28th July, 2018 at 7:09pm
Partick Thistle came into today’s Betfred Cup Group E game against Ayr United knowing a win would guarantee them not only progression but seeded progression in the first Cup competition of the season. Unfortunately, the Jags were unable to secure a spot in the last 16 as the Honest Men battled to a 2-0 won in Maryhill. Goals from Michael Moffat and Lawrence Shankland saw Ayr to victory with the hosts unable to find an answer to their problems in the final third. Now, the Maryhill men await the outcome of Hearts vs. Inverness tomorrow to see whether they’ll reach the last 16. Thistle boss, Alan Archibald spoke to ptfc.co.uk to reflect on an underwhelming 90 minutes.
Alan began by telling us that he was very pleased with the way that his side started the game although he felt they didn’t react well enough after falling behind.
“The first five minutes were positive and we looked dangerous. However, we then concede a quite ridiculous goal and suddenly don’t look as good and everything slowed down. We took a while to get back into the game and didn’t really work the goalkeeper enough from that point on which was very disappointing because we had plenty of possession.”
The gaffer expanded on that, explaining that there were a numbers of problems with the Jags attack that meant they failed to break Ayr down.
“We were alright in possession in the first half but still only created half chances. Overall, we didn’t move the ball quickly enough and our decision-making was all wrong at times; epitomised by the opener. Ayr were disciplined and because we took too long to move the ball, they were able to get back into shape easily which made it extremely tough to score.”
Although his side now looking elsewhere to see if they’ll get through, Alan says the team knew the situation going into the game and can’t complain if they’re sent out by results elsewhere.
“We knew that a win would put it beyond any doubt but we didn’t perform today. Everyone knew the situation and now it comes down to one game where we need a certain result which is not nice considering it was all in our hands ahead of today. We’ve let ourselves down and have to hold our hands up to take the blame.”
The Jags return to action as we play Ayr United once again next Saturday. Thistle travel south to take on the Honest Men on the Ladbrokes Championship’s opening day. Kick-off is 15:00 from Somerset Park.
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