Tuesday 9th August, 2016 at 9:00am
As the Betfred cup enters the knockout stages, Danny Devine is hoping to continue Thistle’s fine start to the season and progress to the quarter final stage with victory over Dundee United.
Thistle have started the season with five wins from five and Danny is looking forward to the chance to make it six.
“We are feeling positive, especially after Saturday’s result. It was a good result to start the season with. I thought we were solid as a team and the boys are looking forward to getting out there again and putting in another performance.
“Winning breeds confidence, so as long as we can continue winning and putting in performances, the boys are going to be flying and looking forward to the next game. When you are on a good run you want to get out there and hopefully do it all again.”
The defender is expecting a tough test against a Dundee United side who were relegated from the Premiership last term.
“Dundee United will be a tough test. They’ve brought in a few good players, I know they are in the division below but we will approach it the same as any game and make sure we work hard and do things properly. It’s not an easy place to go but Inverness was a tough match and we got through that so hopefully we can go out there and play as well as we can and come away having progressed to the next round.”
Danny has helped the defence to three clean sheets from the five games so far and he is hoping to record a third shutout in a row at Tannadice.
“As a defender we pride ourselves on a clean sheet so it was nice to get one on Saturday. We will go out looking for another one and hope to keep it tight at the back. If we can do that then we are half way there and we give the boys at the other end an easier job to win us the game. We have the quality at the other end so if we can stick to our task then hopefully we will be through to the next round.”
Devine has tasted cup silverware when he won the Scottish Cup with Inverness and he is hoping to bring some of that cup magic to Firhill.
“I won the Scottish Cup with Inverness and a cup run can be great for a club, it gives the place a buzz and winning games obviously gives you that lift. If we can progress to the quarter final tomorrow then it will have everyone confident. It’s good for the fans too they go into games up for it and you can carry that into the league too.”
After the Dundee United match, which will go to extra time and penalties if required, Thistle have a gap due to Celtic playing their joker and the Thistle number 15 is disappointed in the gap in action.
“I think as a team you are disappointed to have a gap in the games, especially if you are on such a good run. As a player you want to play as often as possible. It helps players with knocks recover and get back but as a team you want to keep going and keep that momentum as much as possible. However, it’s up to us to manage and we will work hard and recover and prepare right for the matches coming up after that.”
