Friday 17th September, 2021 at 11:05am
It’s been a matter of biding time for Cammy Smith since his arrival at Firhill towards the end of Partick Thistle’s Premier Sports Cup group stage fixtures. The number 11 debuted for his new side on league opening day but was limited to substitute appearances over the first four games of the Championship campaign. Now, having started against Stranraer and Inverness, the former Aberdeen midfielder is ready to kick on as a Jag. He spoke to ptfc.co.uk ahead of this weekend’s game against Kilmarnock:
“It’s been nice to start a couple of games because I’ve been patient over the last three or four weeks. Obviously, I came in late coming back from America so I knew I would have to be patient.
“Against Inverness, I came in and thought I did alright in the first half, but the second half was a poor team performance. We lost two poor goals after a first half where we were well worth our lead going into half time. I enjoyed getting a game and I just need a run at it now.”
Reflecting on the defeat at the Caledonian Stadium further, Smith felt the Jags struggled to match Inverness after a bright start to the second half by the home side.
“They scored early and they scored a poor goal from our point of view and goals change games, so they had the momentum. They got a boost from that first one and then when they get the second it’s a tough uphill battle after that but we’re looking to put it right this weekend.”
Tommy Wright’s Kilmarnock visit Maryhill this weekend as the Jags seek to get back to winning ways and Cammy feels it’s a game Thistle have to look to win.
“Obviously on paper, Kilmarnock is one the toughest teams we’ll play but they’re all tough once you actually get there and come Saturday at three o’clock there aren’t any easy games.
“We’ve trained well this week and we need to be ready for the weekend. We’ve got aspirations to be up fighting at the top end of the table, so these are the games where we really need to show that. It’s a long season but you want to put your marker down.
“You would expect Kilmarnock to be decent but it depends on the day as well because there’s not much between the teams in this league. If you can get the balance of the team right and you’ve got players in the team that know this league then you’ve always got a chance.”
This weekend’s game is the first at Firhill since Thistle’s 3-0 win over Greenock Morton at the end of last month and Smith is looking forward to playing in front of the Jags fans again who he believes are right behind the team at the moment.
“They’ve recognised our good start to the season and they know what we’re trying to do. There’s a group of boys that want to do well here and are hungry for success so that can only stand the club in good stead going forward. It’s still early days but we’re getting up and running in the season now so hopefully we can put a consistent run together moving forward.”
Exclusive video interviews with Lewis Mayo and Thistle assistant manager Neil Scally 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 clash with Kilmarnock, starting at 2:30pm – click here to tune in.
There will also be a pay-per-view option, priced at £12, for any supporter who wishes to watch our live stream of the match – click here for more info.
We’ll have extended highlights and a full game replay of the fixture on JagZone following the game.
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