Tuesday 27th April, 2021 at 11:47am
Thistle fans are reminded that Tuesday night’s game will kick off at 7pm.
In the latter stages of any league season, you need your big players to step up in big moments and Brian Graham certainly did that for Partick Thistle on Saturday against Airdrieonians. The number nine struck the winning goal after half an hour, following Shea Gordon’s header off the bar, to secure a huge three points for the Jags in their first post-split fixture. Now, the Maryhill men face a trip north to take on Cove Rangers and Graham spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of the clash:
“We’re feeling confident at the moment as we should with the run we are on so we’ll go to Cove in good spirits. They’re one of the best teams in this league without a doubt so we won’t take them lightly but we’re on a good run so hopefully we can get another three points.
“Cove are a really good outfit with some top players for this level and they’ve got a brilliant home record so we’re under no illusions about how difficult a game it will be but we just have to focus on ourselves because we know if we play at our best we’re more than capable of winning.”
The sides have met twice this season so far with Paul Hartley’s side coming out on top on a blistery day at Balmoral in October before the points were shared at Firhill in the first league game back after the restart and Brian doesn’t think either side has really been at their best in those meetings.
“Well, looking back on the game at their place, it wasn’t really a game of football, to be honest, and then when we played them at home it was the first competitive game in two and a half months for both teams and you saw that affect the game, especially in the first half I think. They’re both games where we feel we could have got more out of the match so we’re keen to make up for that this week.”
Brian’s goal at the weekend against Airdrieonians was his ninth of the season and fifth since the restart and he was delighted to bag the winner in such a big game.
“It was a good ball in and as it bounced up into the air I saw Shea Gordon coming round the back for a header so at that point I just got myself ready for any scraps that would come my way. Luckily, the ball fell in front of me and I was able to force it in so it was great.
“I think everyone could see from my celebrations how much it meant to me and, obviously, it was just as important that we were able to hold on. I don’t even know what formation they ended up playing, it was gung-ho but we got across the line in the end and it was an important win for us.”
The Diamonds best chance of the game fell in the 94th minute on Saturday as they struck the post through Calum Gallagher and Graham admits that he thought it was headed into the back of the net.
“I was back defending and the ball flashed by my face on the way to goal and I thought it was going in, to be honest, but when it came back of the post it was a great feeling because when a team throws everything at you like they did there does tend to be at least one big chance and that was there’s so to see it come off the post and be cleared was fantastic.”
That missed opportunity was a big moment for the Jags as they held on for the victory at Firhill but Brian says the team know there’s a lot of work still to be done.
“We were all over the moon to win at the weekend. We’ve got three massive games left including two in three days so we need to keep pushing forward. Each game is going to be a battle but we’re ready for it and hopefully we can keep our momentum going.”
More exclusive preview interviews with Alan Archibald and Darren Brownlie 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 fixture against Cove Rangers – click here to tune in.
The home side are offering a PPV option, priced at £10, for Jags fans who wish to watch a livestream of the game – click here for more info.
We’ll have extended highlights and a full game replay of our trip to face Cove Rangers on JagZone.
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