Friday 16th August, 2013 at 2:03pm
Having come so close to a deserved victory over Hearts last night there was an understandable sense of disappointment at the end of the game.
Manager Alan Archibald, however, when speaking with [link:HOME] after the game was anything but disappointed with the way his players had performed; even though they didn’t manage to get the win they so merited.
“I’m proud about how they went about the game tonight. They passed the ball well and everything they did was great. I thought that we dominated possession in the first half and we were just missing the goal. When the goal did come I just wish we could have hung on. That couple of minutes after scoring a goal is always a worrying period for a manager.”
“I think if we had just a bit more clinical in the final third tonight it would have been different but it is important that they keep on believing in themselves. They are a bit despondent at the moment because it feels like a defeat but we’ll pick them up and we’ll go again.”
The goal, when it did come, was emphatically converted by Aaron Muirhead who showed great courage to step up having missed his last penalty in the Ramsdens Cup Final last season.
Said Alan;
“I think that put a couple of demons to bed for the big man. It would have been a great ending for him after what happened to him last season. There was a lot of pressure on him as well as a couple of other boys wanted to take the penalty but he was a credit to himself.”
There was praise too from the Thistle manager for the Hearts side.
“I said before the game that Hearts are similar side to us. They’ve got a hunger and a desire and also a fight for their club and their manager. Their fans really backed their team tonight as well; just as our fans did.”
The fact that everyone was do disappointed not to have won last night is an indication of just how far the Club has developed over the last 12 months or so.
“Who would have thought a year ago that we would be disappointed at only taking a point from Hearts. They were a credit to themselves tonight though and, as I said, I was proud of the way they played. It was just disappointing that we couldn’t get the win for the fans.”
To round things up the manager gave us an update on Sean Welsh who was forced to come off at half-time through injury after a hugely impressive first 45 minutes from the Thistle midfielder.
“He got a really bad leg right on half-time and he was struggling to shake it off. We gave him to the end of the half and we tried to work on the injury at half-time but it wasn’t enough. We moved Stuart Bannigan inside and gave Kallum Higginbotham his home debut and I thought he was unlucky not to score.”
