Friday 25th November, 2016 at 5:23pm
Chris Erskine has been back to his talismanic best for Thistle at times this season and the Jags front man is looking forward to getting back on track after a disappointing showing against Motherwell last week. Tomorrow’s game will be the first time Thistle have faced Rangers at Firhill in almost a decade and Erskine is looking forward to the occasion.
“I’ve played in front of a number of big crowds at Firhill and tomorrow should be another good experience. I think a lot of players look forward to these fixtures in the calendar but it’s honestly just another game for me. I’ll prepare right and look forward to getting a chance to show my ability on the pitch.
“Our record against the bigger teams hasn’t been very good in recent years and we haven’t beaten Rangers in a long time so it’s up to us to take a scalp and put that right. We’ll go into the game with the plan that the gaffer has prepared and we’ll all go out to give it everything we’ve got to get three points which are vital.”
As Thistle enter a tough run of winter fixtures, and with the league extremely compact, Chris knows that one result could potentially push Thistle up several places in the league.
“It’s really, really close right the way through the league. We saw that Hamilton’s draw on Monday night put us down a place purely on alphabetical order, which is a first for me. A win at this stage will send us up a number of spaces in the table which makes every result vital. We want to climb up the division as quickly as we can, starting with a good result on Saturday lunchtime
“The run over Christmas is tough but everyone plays everyone during that period so we just need to get on with it. I know it’s a cliché but we’ll take one game at a time and just make sure the work is done right in the run up to each fixture.”
For Erskine, preparation is vital and the man they call Squiddy knows that the management and coaching staff in place at the club are all working to give the players the best possible chance once they cross the white line.
“At the club now we get the best possible preparation, the best I’ve had in my career. From the fitness and sports science aspects right the way through to the opposition analysis, there are no excuses for us not to go out and play. We know we’ll be in for a tough match on Saturday but the gaffer has prepared us thoroughly for the game and we’ll all be raring to get out there and get started come kick off. More than anything else we want to get the three points so that Thistle fans can enjoy their weekend and have bragging rights at their work on Monday morning – it’s been too long since they last had that.”
