Friday 31st December, 2021 at 4:32pm
Given recent weather conditions and the current weather forecast for the next 48 hours, there will be a pitch inspection at 10am on Sunday morning ahead of our cinch Championship fixture against Greenock Morton.
We will update supporters with further information following this inspection.
Due to recent call-offs against Inverness and Ayr United, the last competitive kick of a ball for a Thistle player in 2021 was Kyle Turner’s dramatic 95th minute winner against Raith Rovers and the Jags will be desperate to carry that good feeling forward as Greenock Morton visit Firhill for the first game of the New Year. The ‘Ton, under rookie manager Dougie Imrie, were part of the only game that went ahead in the Championship in midweek as they fought back to draw 1-1 with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park and could move off the bottom of the league with a result in Maryhill. Thistle defender Richard Foster spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of the clash:
“After beating Raith, that was a really positive result and there’s a good feeling in the camp so you’re wanting to play these next few games. Especially the game at home because we really fancy ourselves at home at the moment but the pitch wasn’t playable so there’s not much we can do. Now, we just hope the rain holds off so we can get the game on for Sunday.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s encounter with Morton, Richard says that the recent call-offs around the league only make the game even more important.
“It’s been a bit strange because we decided against that winter break in this league and then we’ve ended up with 15 days between games anyway but it’s easy to look at it with hindsight now. What it has done is just complicated the league situation a bit. We had to sit out on Boxing Day as other teams around us picked up points so now we’re playing a bit of catch-up.
“If the game is on this Sunday then it’s a huge game for us with the other games that are on around about us and the catch-up element. We’ve prepared properly this week so we’ll be looking for another important three points.”
Thistle beat Morton comfortably at Firhill earlier this season but had to settle for a 0-0 draw at Cappielow and Foster is expecting more of the Morton the Jags saw away from home this time round.
“I think they’ve had a little bit of a resurgence. They’ve changed manager and you tend to find players raise their levels a bit to impress a new manager; you possibly saw that a bit against Kilmarnock the other night. Their shape was good, they were very resilient and Kilmarnock struggled to break them down.
“They’ll be looking to capitalise on that little bounce that they’ve got but hopefully for us at home we’ll have too much for them. We know there are no easy games though and Morton are fighting for their lives down at the bottom so it’ll be a real tough game.”
With further rain this week affecting the Firhill pitch, Foster says the Jags need to approach the game in the right way to replicate their dominant display against Raith.
“I think the old cliché holds true; it’s the same for both teams. The advantage goes to whoever deals with it better on the day. Against Arbroath we got caught trying to play the way they do but they’re very good at that which meant they completely outplayed us. Against Raith, there was a bit more football played but we were able to pressure them into a lot of mistakes and we were able to outplay them so we’ve seen both sides.
“That’s what you’re going to get in the Championship – if you don’t turn up on any given day then you’re usually going to lose. Morton will have seen the way we struggled against Arbroath when it became a bit of a battle and they might see that as a way to beat us but we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Exclusive video interviews with Thistle assistant manager Alan Archibald and Cammy Smith will be available for JagZone subscribers to watch today – log in to view.
Due to new restrictions on outdoor events, tickets for our game against Greenock Morton have been balloted for season ticket holders. Click here for the latest update on the ballot.
Season ticket holders will get live stream access for restricted attendance fixtures. Click here for more information.
A PPV live stream is available for supporters to purchase, priced at £12 – click here for more info.
We’ll have extended highlights and a full game replay of the fixture on JagZone following the game.
Article Copyright © 2021. Permission to use quotations from this article online is only granted subject to appropriate source credit and hyperlink to ptfc.co.uk.
