Match Preview
Tuesday's 2-0 win against Ross County has once again raised hopes that Thistle could challenge St Johnstone at the top of the league right to the end of the season.
While the gap presently sits at 4 points and with St Johnstone having played a game fewer Thistle couldn't be said to be hard on the heels of the current league leaders but we are heading the chasing back waiting for any slip up from St Johnstone.
Tomorrow St Johnstone's long unbeaten run is likely to be tested to the full at Livingston which makes our own fixture tomorrow with Dunfermline an attractive one and vital to the promotion hopes of both teams.
On Tuesday Thistle were down to the bare bones in terms of player availability and things, as Ian McCall reveals to www.ptfc.co.uk, on that front have improved although the influential Liam Buchanan will again sit this one out.
"I'm delighted that I am able to welcome Ian Maxwell and Simon Donnelly back into the squad after both missed out on Tuesday's game against Ross County. On the down side Liam Buchanan will miss out again. Liam has had an injection from the specialist and will hopefully be back in light training next week and resume full training the week after the Dundee game. We would hope to have him available for at least part of the St Johnstone game which could yet be a hugely important fixture."
"I wasn't too hard on the players after the Clyde defeat because even though we lost a poor goal on another day we could have won the game fairly comfortably. The response I got from the players at Ross County midweek was fantastic and I think there is a growing feeling that we might be able to do something this season. We certainly want to finish the season as high in the league as we can and we are now in the middle of March and find ourselves in second place. There is much football to play before then but if we can go up to St Johnstone early next month no more than 3 or 4 points behind them then I wouldn't rule anything out this season."
Thistle Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
3 0 2 9 6
Scorers Season 2008/2009
Gary Harkins 10
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 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
Ross County 0, Partick Thistle 2
Dunfermline Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 1 2 9 10
Scorers Season 2008/2009
Andy Kirk 13
Nick Phinn 8
Graham Bayne 6
Steven Bell 3
Rory Loy 2
Iain Williamson 2
Alex Burke 1
Ross Campbell 1
Stephen Glass 1
David Graham 1
Kevin Harper 1
Greg Shields 1
Scott Thomson 1
Simon Wiles 1
Scott Wilson 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Livingston 4, Dunfermline Athletic 2
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday February 14th 2009
Partick Thistle 2, Dunfermline Athletic 3
Teams:
Thistle: Tuffey, Paton, Twaddle (Maxwell), Storey (McKinlay), Kinniburgh, Archibald, Chaplain, Rowson, Buchanan (Donnelly), Doolan, Harkins .
Dunfermline: Gallacher, Thomson, Wilson, Ross (Loy), Shields, McCann, Bell, Holmes, Graham (Muirhead), Kirk, Phinn (Mole).
Scorers
Thistle: Buchanan (9), Doolan (33)
Dunfermline: Bell (12), Kirk (30), Loy (88)
Crowd: 2,957
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday March 14th 2009
Dunfermline Athletic v Partick Thistle
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults £16
Concessions £10 (OAPs/Under18s/Students*)
Under 12s £5
Prices as per official Dunfermline website
*on production of valid matriculation card
Saturday's Other Fixtures
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Airdrie United v Queen of the South
Dundee v Ross County
Livingston v St Johnstone
Morton v Clyde
Match Officials
Referee: David Somers
Assistant Referees: Brian McGarry & Brian Templeton
