Saturday 24th July, 2021 at 1:36pm
Kyle Turner has had an impressive start to life as a Partick Thistle player. The 23-year-old has been asked to play in a midfield two, a midfield three and even on the right of a four but has stood out in each role. He set up the Jags first goal of the competitive season and has continued to stand out in the games since as he settles into life in red and yellow. His next test will be the biggest one yet as the Maryhill men travel to Paisley to take on St. Mirren in their final Premier Sports Cup group stage game but he told ptfc.co.uk that he’s looking forward to the challenge:
“It’s going to be a tough game on Sunday, there’s no doubt about that but we’re not going to shy away from the game. Tuesday night’s performance wasn’t the best – it was just about winning the match – but going away to St. Mirren, we know we’ll have to step it up a bit.”
After an opening day loss to Dunfermline, the Jags knew that three victories would probably be needed to have a chance of progression. They’ve won two of two so far and Turner says it’s felt good to get back to winning ways.
“We knew we had to go out and win these games and that’s exactly what we’ve done. They’ve not been easy games at all, Stenny and Dumbarton both played like they had a point to prove against a team from the higher division and we’ve had to work really hard for the wins.
“Dumbarton came here and looked really organised in that first half and used the counter well but we’ve managed to find that breakthrough at the end of the first half and then Brian kills the game off with the second goal just after half-time so it was definitely pleasing to get the three points.”
Kyle was one of many Thistle players who missed a couple of the team’s pre-season friendlies and he says he’s already feeling the benefits of the minutes he’s played during these group stages.
“Obviously we’re still at a point in the season when we need minutes in the legs but I’m feeling sharper with each game I play. To be able to play at your best you need to have that fitness and hopefully the gametime we’ve had now over our friendlies and the group stage games will mean we can be right at it on Sunday because we’ll need to be against a Premiership team.”
The number six stressed the importance of self-belief going into the weekend’s game, suggesting that the team need to take the game to St. Mirren to get a result.
“There’s a lot of belief in the camp. We go there with confidence, looking to put in a good performance and if we can play to our potential then I don’t think there’s any reason why we can’t get a result.
“They’ll come out fast and look to control things but we need to make sure we focus on ourselves and try to play our football. One of the keys for us will be consistency. We’ve played some really good football for spells so far this season but we need to make sure we do it for the full game.”
An exclusive preview interview with 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 trip to Paisley, starting at 2:30pm – click here to tune in.
You can watch our clash with St. Mirren live on Premier Sports on Sunday afternoon – 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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