Rudden aiming to end the season on a high

Tuesday 4th May, 2021 at 10:55am

Thistle fans are reminded that tonight’s game will kick off at 7pm.

A thumping 5-0 win over Falkirk got the title party underway for Partick Thistle as the Jags secured promotion to the Scottish Championship last Thursday. Ian McCall’s side blew the Bairns out of the water with a thrilling performance which made it 12 unbeaten in league action. First half goals from Zak Rudden, Scott Tiffoney and Brian Graham had the Maryhill men in dreamland at the break before Graham added another just ahead of the hour mark and Joe Cardle rounded things off. Now, attentions turn to the team’s final game of the season against Montrose at Links Park and Zak Rudden spoke to ptfc.co.uk to look ahead to the clash:

“It was a very enjoyable weekend for everyone I think. I’m absolutely delighted for the boys and for everyone involved with the club. It was a very hard season but we got over the line and I hope all the fans enjoyed the win and the weekend as much as we did.

“The game itself was unbelievable. It was a complete team performance from every single player and it’s the kind of match that you’ll never forget.”

Rudden has produced six goals in his last six games and he reckons it’s been the best month of his career.

“Obviously I’ve had my struggles with injuries this season and then when I first got back into the team in March I was missing some chances that I should have been putting away but I think all of that just spurred me on to work harder and get back to scoring goals for the team, for the gaffer and for the fans.

“Everyone has stuck with me 100% and I’m very thankful to the team and backroom staff for putting up with me. It’s been great this past month or so to be back playing and scoring but I couldn’t have done it without that support.”

For the first time since the pair arrived at the club, Brian Graham and Zak Rudden have had a run of starts together over the past couple of weeks and Rudden says he’s enjoyed linking up with the number nine.

“That’s why the two of us were brought here; to play together and score goals but it hadn’t happened because of the time I was out. Still, we’ve had the chance to play together recently and I think we’ve done well. Brian set me up for a goal against Montrose and I set him up for one against Falkirk so hopefully there’s more to come from us.”

Thistle’s promotion is now sealed but there’s still one more game to play and with Montrose still harbouring hopes of a play-off spot Zak says it’s important Thistle give their all at Links Park.

“The manager has made it clear that he expects us to keep pushing to try to keep this unbeaten run going that we’ve had in the league. Other teams still have things to play for so it would be wrong for us to take it easy, we have to go out to try to win the game and hopefully we can end the season on a high.”

More exclusive preview interviews with 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 fixture against Montrose – click here to tune in.

The home side are offering a PPV option, priced at £12.50, 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 Montrose on JagZone.