Match Preview
Tomorrow afternoon the curtain comes down on season 2008/2009 with a fixture with Dundee at Dens Park. While St Johnstone are worthy and deserved Champions it has been a good season for Thistle also. A final position of second in the league beyond the expectations of most Thistle fans at the start of the season.
Finishing second though brings its' own set of frustrations and there is already a determination inside the camp, with one game of this season still to go, to go one better next time around.
In addition, therefore, to his usual round of team news manager Ian McCall provided www.ptfc.co.uk with an insight into his thinking ahead of next season when we spoke to him after this morning's training session.
"First of all I'm delighted to report that Craig Hinchcliffe, Ricky Little and John Robertson have all signed new deals that will keep them at Firhill until at least the end of the 2009-2010 season. Looking at each of them in turn I feel that John Robertson is one of the outstanding defenders in the First Division and I was desperate to get him signed up for next season. Ricky Little I feel has done enough to deserve the chance of another year at the club. Craig Hinchcliffe we feel has another season in him as second choice keeper. It could be that it will be his last season as second choice but he has much more to offer than just that. His influence on Jonny Tuffey has been massive and I will go as far to say that as long as I'm at Firhill so too, in some capacity, will be Craig Hinchcliffe."
"We have also offered a new deal to Simon Storey but we have yet to hear whether he will accept it or not."
"Looking towards tomorrow's game with Dundee we will be without Stephen McKeown and Scott Chaplain but Gary Harkins is available again after suspension. It will, therefore, be the usual 16 man squad plus Ricky Little."
"Although we have told Kevin McKinlay and Simon Donnelly that there won't be a deal for them next season I won't have any hesitation in playing them tomorrow and it would nave been the same with Scott Chaplain had he been fit to play. Indeed there is a very good chance that Simon Donnelly will start tomorrow. "
"Paul Paton is a booking away from a suspension at the start of the next season bit we simply don't have enough players available to leave him out of this one. I've a chat with Paul about this and hopefully he will get through the game without picking up a yellow card."
"We are travelling up to Dens Park with just one thing in mind - three points. If we were to win tomorrow that would mean that we would have won 17 league games this season which we feel would be one hell of an effort for a squad the size of ours. In fact if we win and St Johnstone don't we will end up winning more games than any other in the league which although not enough to win the league would still be a noteworthy achievement."
While Gary Harkins returns from suspension for Thistle, Dundee will be without the services of their top scorer Mickael Antoine-Curier through suspension.
Thistle Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 1 2 3 4
Scorers Season 2008/2009
Gary Harkins 12
Liam Buchanan 7
Stephen McKeown 7
Kris Doolan 5< /p>
Scott Chaplain 4
Damon Gray 4
Ian Maxwell 4
Paul Paton 3
Simon Donnelly 2
Kevin McKinlay 2
Lucas Akins 1
Mark Roberts 1
John Robertson 1
David Rowson 1
Chris Turner 1
Marc Twaddle 1
Own Goals 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday May 2nd 2009
Partick Thistle 0, Airdrie United 1
Dundee Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 0 4 1 6
Scorers Season 2008/2009
Mickael Antoine-Curier 15
Colin McMenamin 5
Eric Paton 4
Georgios Efrem 2
Bryan Deasley 1
Paul McHale 1
Christopher Posniak 1
Andrew Shinnie 1
Darren Young 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday May 2nd 2009
Clyde 2, Dundee 0
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Sunday March 22nd 2009
Partick Thistle 1, Dundee 1
Teams
Thistle: Tuffey, Storey, Twaddle, Paton (McKinlay), Robertson, Archibald, McKeown, Rowson (Kinniburgh), Akins (Chaplain), Doolan, Harkins.
Dundee: Douglas, Cowan, Malone, McHale, McKenzie, Lauchlan (McKeown), Shinnie, Paton, McMenamin, Antoine-Curier, Efrem.
Scorers
Thistle: McKinlay (81)
Dundee: McMenamin (37)
Crowd: 3,303
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday May 9th 2009
Dundee v Partick Thistle
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults £10
Under 16s: Free (children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult).
Other First Division Fixtures
Airdrie United v St Johnstone
Dunfermline Athletic v Clyde
Livingston v Queen of the South
Morton v Ross County
Match Officials
Referee: Stevie O'Reilly
Assistant Referees: Mark Doyle and Morag Pirie
