Friday 1st April, 2022 at 11:44am
Joining on loan from Rangers in February, it’s been a case of thrown in at the deep end for Juan Alegria with Brian Graham and Alex Jakubiak both missing games leaving the Colombian as Thistle’s sole natural striker in the squad for the past few matchdays. Although the 19-year-old hasn’t hit form yet in red and yellow, he’s hoping with more games and minutes played he’ll soon be finding the net for the first time as a Jag. Alegria spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of this Saturday’s game against Arbroath, beginning by telling us how he’s found the settling in process in Maryhill:
“I have to say a big thanks to the people at the club because they have helped me a lot. The players and the staff have all welcomed me brilliantly and that is important in helping me adjust to the new situation I’m in.”
Juan says that having the chance to work alongside experienced players such as Brian Graham at an early stage in his career is proving useful for him.
“It’s great to be training with these players who know so much about football and have played so many games. As a striker, guys like Brian and Alex Jakubiak are the ones I’m learning most from but I think that all the players with experience in the squad are helping in different ways.
“I’m coming into training every day feeling like I’m ready to learn and take more advice home with me which is what I want as a young player. They try to speak to me when they can and explain some of the things that they do and I think that will only help me to grow.”
Alegria has made the step up to Championship football with Thistle having played at Lowland League level with Rangers B earlier this season but he says his approach hasn’t changed despite that.
“The biggest difference is the quality in the league because my mindset is the same. I always try to put everything on the pitch and try to put everything into training and that is the same no matter what level I’m playing at.
“I think playing in the Lowland League was good in terms of preparing me physically for a challenge like this but I’m still finding my feet in other ways at this level.”
As a team, Thistle are preparing to take on Arbroath this weekend at Firhill and the teenager says the team are keen to get back on track after a few poor results.
“The team is ready for this challenge. We know we haven’t been good enough in the last three or four games but after the Kilmarnock game we got back into training and have worked hard this week to get ready for what will be another difficult match.
“We are coming into the last five games of the season and we are fully focussed on this Saturday. Arbroath are a good team, we know this, but we have to believe in ourselves and believe we can get the result that we need.”
Exclusive video interviews with Stuart Bannigan and Thistle assistant manager Alan Archibald will be available for JagZone subscribers to watch today – log in to view.
JagZone subscribers will be able to tune in to live audio commentary for our clash with Arbroath, starting at 2:30pm – click here to tune in.
We will be providing a pay-per-view option, priced at £12, for any supporter who wishes to watch our livestream of the match – click here to purchase.
We’ll have extended highlights and a full game replay of the fixture on JagZone following the game.
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