Crawford: It’s been easy to settle in

Friday 21st January, 2022 at 3:27pm

Two weeks on from making the move from Motherwell to Maryhill, it’s fair to say Robbie Crawford is enjoying his time at Firhill so far. The number 22 is still waiting on his first win in Jags colours but, with two starts in two games, the former Livingston man is settling into the Thistle midfield nicely. Now he’s looking forward to his first game for the club in front of an unrestricted Firhill crowd as the team take on Airdrieonians in the Scottish Cup fourth round and he spoke to ptfc.co.uk to preview the game:

“I’m looking forward to meeting the fans. I’ve played here multiple times when the crowds are in and it’s always a good atmosphere. Especially for a cup tie, it’s usually quite exciting for the fans so hopefully there are plenty who come along.”

The midfielder stated upon signing that he’d made the move to get more time on the pitch and after 146 minutes in his first two games, he says he’s pleased with the trust the manager has shown in him.

“Obviously it’s great that the manager has that belief in me. I just hope I can keep playing and I think I can play better than I have done these last couple of games so hopefully I get better as each game comes.

“I’ve settled in well and the boys have been great with me so it’s been pretty easy from that point of view. The more I play with them the sharper I’ll get so I feel better each game and each training session. That’s something that should just continue to build over the coming weeks.

“I’ve played with Doc for years so that’s been a bonus. I actually knew Stuart Bannigan as well from his loan at Ayr although I was a young boy at that time so didn’t play with him. Also, I’ve played against Kyle multiple times. They’re all good players and it’s easy to play next to good players.”

Robbie then reflected on the two games he’s played so far for the club; a 2-2 draw with Hamilton and a 1-1 draw against Kilmarnock.

“The Hamilton one was a game I think we probably should have won. We conceded two slack goals from our point of view which was frustrating but even with that we still had chances to win it late on so that did feel a bit disappointing.

“As for the Killie match, I’d say the first maybe fifteen minutes or so they probably started better than us, but then once we found our feet in the game I thought we were the better team for the rest of the game to be honest.

“We definitely felt a bit hard done by with the penalty but we just had to get on with it and we did come back into it pretty quickly. In the end, the boys did well to get a point.”

Now Robbie is excited for testing cup tie against an on from Airdrieonians side at Firhill.

“They’re flying most weeks now. They’ve got good players and they’re a good side so it won’t be an easy game at all. We know it’ll be difficult but it’s at home so we’ll be going out to play our football and win the game.

“I don’t think they’ll come and try to sit in though. They’ll have plenty of confidence at the moment and will come here looking to get the win as well.”

Exclusive video interviews with Brian Graham 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 Airdrieonians, 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 for more info.

We’ll have extended highlights and a full game replay of the fixture on JagZone following the game.