Match Preview
This season is the 12th season that Thistle have entered the Challenge Cup but we haven’t, as yet, managed to progress beyond the last eight of the competition. On Sunday afternoon Thistle will have the opportunity to do precisely that when they travel through to face Livingston at Almondvale.
With Jonny Tuffey and Steven Lennon away on international duty with Northern Ireland and the Scotland under 21s and John Robertson suspended following his red card against Ross County, there are certain to be at least three changes to the side as Thistle aim to bounce back from defeat at the hands of Ross County last weekend. Earlier this morning Assistant Manager Gerry Britton was able to provide www.ptfc.co.uk with the latest team news.
“Jonny Tuffey and Steven Lennon are away on international duty while Stephen McKeown, Liam Buchanan and Alan Archibald are still injured. There is also a doubt surrounding Simon Donnelly.”
With Jonny away on international duty that obviously leaves us a little short on the goalkeeping front. That is a situation that the management team are looking at addressing.
“In addition to Craig Hinchcliffe we only have a young, inexperienced goalkeeper. We are looking at the possibility of including a substitute keeper with a little more experience for Sunday’s game but nothing is finalised at present.”
Gerry also brought us up to date with the injury situation.
“The news on Stephen McKeown is a little more encouraging than it was earlier in the week. We still aren’t a 100% sure what the exact nature of the injury is but we’ve had the first specialist report confirm that it isn’t his cruciate. The doctor thinks that it might be his medial ligament in which case we would be looking at a couple of weeks before he can return. We should hear more definitive news later today.”
There is positive news to report on Liam Buchanan as well.
“Liam is coming along well. He joined in with training this week and will do so again today and tomorrow. He is pencilled in to play in a bounce match next Tuesday.”
Recording a victory against Livingston on Sunday will be nothing other than extremely difficult. With the Club under new ownership and manager Italian Roberto Landi largely unknown in Scotland no one knew quite what to expect from Livingston this season. With the first full month of the season now completed Livingston are very much the First Division’s form team and in addition to sitting proudly at the top of the league they maintain interest not just in the Alba Challenge Cup but in the Co-Operative Insurance Cup as well where a trip to Parkhead to face Celtic awaits.
Livingston’s ambition to remain at the top of the league was underlined when bids were turned down for Murray Davidson, Leigh Griffiths, who has scored no fewer than 9 goals thus far this season, and James McPake were turned down just before the transfer window closed.
