Match Preview
The season maybe nearing the end but it is most certainly not drifting to a conclusion. With St Johnstone unable to take full advantage of their game in hand against Dunfermline on Tuesday night the gap between them at the top of the league and ourselves in second is an entirely bridgeable 4 points. Without doubt excitement is starting to grow in and around Firhill.
There is though little margin for error in the closing five games if we hope to take advantage of any slips that St Johnstone may make as the finishing line starts to near. Just about every game from now to the season's end comes under the heading of ‘must win'.
For all that when www.ptfc.co.uk caught up with manager Ian McCall for team news ahead of Saturday's game with Queen of the South he was quick to play down the suggestion that perhaps for the first time pressure was starting to mount.
"I've not sensed any increase in pressure. Our aim at the start of the season was to improve upon last season's finish of 6th and increase our points tally from last season. Now that we are fully involved in a title push we want to go all the way and finish the season at the top of the league. If we can win on Saturday and St Johnstone don't beat Dunfermline then we would go top with a win against Morton next weekend. What an incentive that is to win our next two games."
"First of all though we must concentrate on the next game which is against Queen of the South. I don't think that our form at Firhill has been too bad since the turn of the year but there have been a few too many draws. We are the stage of the season now though where we know we have to start to win at home. Nothing less than 3 points on Saturday will do. "
"Getting three points against Queen of the South will be far from easy however. I know that their manager Gordon Chisholm won't agree with this but in my view there is no doubt that they are in a false position in the league. They have a number of very good players and in Stephen Dobbie they have an exceptional goals corer and a player that we will have to keep very close tabs on."
So what of our own team news?
"Stephen McKeown had to come off against St Johnstone with a hamstring injury and he won't make Saturday's game which is an obvious blow to us. Liam Buchanan meantime has been making good progress during the week but we are wary of rushing him back too soon. At the moment I would say that the chances of him being involved on Saturday would be about 50/50 but it would be good to even have him as an option on the bench. If Liam doesn't make it then we are basically down to just 16 fit players which at least makes selecting squad for the game fairly easy."
Queen of the South meantime have doubts over Stewart Kean, who is rated at 50/50, and Sean O'Connor but their manager Gordon Chisholm has an otherwise full squad to select from.
Thistle Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 2 1 5 3
Scorers Season 2008/2009
Gary Harkins 12
Stephen McKeown 7
Liam Buchanan 6
Kris Doolan 5
Scott Chaplain 4
Damon Gray 4
Ian Maxwell 4
Paul Paton 3
Simon Donnelly 2
Kevin McKinlay 2
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 April 4th 2009
St Johnstone 1, Partick Thistle 1
Queen of the South Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 2 2 9 9
Scorers Season 2008/2009
Stephen Dobbie 16
Stewart Kean 5
Sean O'Connor 5
Barry Wilson 5
Paul Burns 4
David Weatherston 4
Robert Harris 3
Steve Tosh 3
Gary Arbuckle 2
Craig Barr 2
Martyn Lancaster 2
Jamie McQuilken 2
Michael McGowan 1
Jim Thomson 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Queen of the South 1, Ross County 2
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday January 24th 2009
Queen of the South 2, Partick Thistle 2
Teams
Queen of the South: Robinson, McCann, Harris, Scally, Barr, Lancaster, Wilson (Weatherston), Tosh, O'Connor, Dobbie, Burns.
Thistle: Tuffey, Paton, Twaddle, Storey, Kinniburgh, Archibald, McKeown (Chaplain), Rowson, Buchanan (Akins), Doolan, Harkins.
Scorers
Queen of the South: Dobbie (11), Tosh (55)
Thistle: Doolan (18), Chaplain (76)
Crowd: 2,811
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Partick Thistle v Queen of the South
Kick-off 3:00pm
Prices
Adults: £15
OAPs/Students:16-21 £10
Under 16s: FREE
Programme: £2.50
Other First Division Fixtures
Dundee v Airdrie United
Dunfermline Athletic v St Johnstone
Livingston v Morton
Ross County v Clyde
Match Officials
Referee: Michael McCurry
Assistant Referees: George Drummond and Andy Tait
