Tuesday 5th April, 2016 at 3:35pm
It was a massive three points for Thistle on Tuesday night as Kris Doolan’s single goal separated the side from Dundee United. With a victory needed to ensure the side remained in contention for the top six, it was a beaming Alan Archibald who spoke to ptfc.co.uk shortly after the game.
“That was an absolutely massive result for us. We knew we needed a win to keep us in with a realistic shout of top six and we’ve got that. It was a tough, tough game. We knew United would come and cause us problems and they certainly did that in the first half. We were lucky to get in at half time with the score still at 0-0.
“In the second half we performed a lot better and took the game to United. We scored an excellent goal and then had to hang on until the full time whistle.”
The narrow victory marked the 11th clean sheet of the season for the side and Alan was delighted the team could hold firm.
“It’s a terrific achievement by the side to have reached 11 clean sheets and we’re not even at the split. Tomas Cerny has produced a number of terrific saves for us in the first half to keep us in the game and hasn’t had too much to do in the second half. Without those saves, particularly the outstandingone from Rankin, we’re going in behind and with a mountain to climb.
“The defence work incredibly well as a unit and it’s great to have such a reliable backline as it means we know that we’ll only need the one goal to secure all three points in games.”Thistle were forced into two substitutions due to injury and we asked the gaffer how the players were.
“Gary Fraser has picked up a knock on his knee and being so early in the game we tried to get him back on the pitch to carry on but he just wasn’t able to do it. We brought on Pogba and put Doolan a bit deeper in order to try and change the system a little bit and it was a success I thought. Freddie felt a sharppain in his calf and we’re hoping that we have caught it early enough that he won’t be out for too long.
“We’ve had a lot of games recently and there are a few walking wounded around Firhill at the moment. We’ll get them back in and do the correct recovery and see where we are with numbers as we head to Dingwall.”
Saturday’s game becomes another incredibly important game with a Thistle win, combined with other results, enough to see the side secure a place in the top six.
“It’s been some turnaround since the start of the season. We now have the opportunity to get into that top and that would be a terrific achievement for the side. At the start of the week I told the players we had to make sure we went to Dingwall withthe opportunity to take that top six place. We don’t quite have it in our own hands but we know that if we win we have a chance. It’s a game we are all looking forward to now and the preparation begins immediately.”
