Match Preview
Last Saturday the Scottish Cup took centre stage but if you think that this weekend we are swapping the glamour of the Scottish Cup for the humdrum of league football you couldn't be more mistaken.
In what has been a busy week at Firhill, with the Club well and truly in the media spotlight creating almost unprecedented positive attention, the week is rounded off with as an eagerly anticipated league fixture that we have had for some time.
2009 is Fir hill's Centenary Year and over the course of the year there will be a number of special events as Firhill gears up for that special birthday day in September. With Saturday's fixture our first home game of the 2009 the Centenary Year commences with the highly attractive visit of league leaders St Johnstone .What better way would there be to kick-off Firhill's Centenary Year than with a resounding win against the league leaders, a win that would take us to within just three points of the top of the league?
Ahead of Saturday's big game www.ptfc.co.uk was able to catch up with manager Ian McCall who brought us all the up to date team news.
"Ian Maxwell and John Robertson will both miss out which is obviously a bit of a blow for us as both have been important player."
"Liam Buchanan isn't 100% fit and I think we are fast reaching the stage where we have to leave him out or put him on the bench. It's because he is such a good player that we have continued to play him. He's scored 4 goals and has won us almost as many penalties since he came back but we really have been asking far too much of him. With Kris Doolan now on board and having scored twice for the reserves during the week it could well be that he was get a start soon."
After missing huge chunks of 2008 even the mere mention of an injury in connection with Liam Buchanan cause anxiety levels but the manager was quick to play down any fears that Liam's old problem has resurfaced.
"While Liam isn't 100% fit at present his injury is in no way connected to the injury that kept him on the sidelines for so long last year. Liam and Alan Archibald, another player that was out injured for a long period, could probably do rest more than anything else. The period where we played three games in the space of seven days recently really took a lot out of them as you would expect."
"Once the season is over we are going to give Liam, Alan and Stephen McKeown, who is fit again and available for Saturday, programmes to work on over the summer months. That should mean that they will be coming back for next season almost like new players. "
Thistle Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 1 3 4 9
Scorers Season 2008/2009
Gary Harkins 8
Stephen McKeown 7
Liam Buchanan 4
Damon Gray 4
Ian Maxwell 4
Scott Chaplain 3
Simon Donnelly 2
Paul Paton 2
Kevin McKinlay 1
Mark Roberts 1
John Robertson 1
Chris Turner 1
Marc Twaddle 1
Own Goals 1
Last Game
The Homecoming Scottish Cup Fourth Round
< p>Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3, Partick Thistle 0St Johnstone Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 2 1 3 2
Scorers Season 2008/2009
Steven Milne 9
Liam Craig 5
Derek Holmes 4
Collin Samuel 4
Paul Sheerin 3
Martin Hardie 2
Stuart McCaffrey 2
Kevin Rutkiewicz 2
Gavin Swankie 2
Peter MacDonald 1
Own Goal 1
Last Game
The Homecoming Scottish Cup Fourth Round
St Johnstone 0, Rangers 2
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday October 25th 2008
St Johnstone 3, Partick Thistle 0
Teams:
St Johnstone: Main, Irvine, Craig, Millar, Rutkiewicz, McCaffrey, Swankie (Moon), Hardie, Holmes (MacDonald), Milne, Sheerin.
Thistle: Tuffey, Paton, Kinniburgh, Storey, Robertson, Maxwell, McKeown, Rowson, Buchanan (Gray), McKinlay, Harkins (Chaplain)
Scorers:
St Johnstone: McCaffrey (14), Craig (62), Milne (69)
Crowd: 2,772
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday January 17th 2009
Partick Thistle v St Johnstone
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Saturday's Other Fixtures
Dundee v Morton
Dunfermline Athletic v Airdrie United
Livingston v Clyde
Ross County v Queen of the South
Prices
Adults £15
OAPs/Students/16-21: £10
Under 16s: Free
Programme: £2.50 (including all the information you need on the newly launched Centenary Fund)
Match Officials
Referee: Crawford Allan
Assistant Referees: Gary Sweeney & Raymond Whyte
