Match Preview
This evening we play our first fixture of the New Year when we welcome Morton, as our first foots, to Firhill. Over the course of the last few weeks the weather has all but wiped out football in the First Division but the one fixture that did take place over the course of the weekend provided Thistle, and all those that harbour hopes of topping the division at the season's end, with a welcome boost. Missing the influential Gary Harkins league leaders Dundee went down 1-0 at home to bottom club Airdrie United.
That result though is really only a boost to our promotion prospects if we gather three points against Morton this evening. The fact that we have won both of our previous meetings with Morton this season will count for nothing when tonight's game gets underway at 7:45pm this evening a fact that manager Ian McCall was quick to emphasis when www.ptfc.co.uk caught up with him at lunchtime today.
"Dundee losing yesterday to Airdrie United was a boost not just for ourselves but for the rest of the league. Dundee have had a lot of good results this season but a lot of those games, particularly our two matches with them, could have gone either way and yesterday's result just proved how difficult it is to beat anyone in this division. Dundee's defeat though is really only a boost to our prospects if we defeat Morton tonight and that will be no easy task."
As we aim to move that bit closer to Dundee the manager is does have the advantage of having virtually a full squad to select from although as he does reveal there will be one absentee tonight.
"Stephen McKeown has injured his hamstring and he will miss out tonight because of that. There have been a couple of players suffering from illness but they are fine and Simon Donnelly had toothache but he is okay so with the exception of the unfortunate Stephen McKeown it is a full squad that we have for tonight."
"Steve Lovell has signed his new contract, a professional contract and not an amateur contract as has been suggested, and will be here for another month. We would like to extend that contract if we get the chance. Greg Shields too has signed his contract and we are hopeful that we might get clearance in time for him to play tonight. We aren't depending on getting his clearance in time for tonight but we are very keen for him to be available in time to play against Dundee United on Saturday."
In addition to being an important league fixture tonight's match also marks the end of Gerry Britton's reign as Assistant Manager. Nicknamed ‘The King of Spain' there is a Spanish theme to the evening as we bid Adios Amigo to the hugely popular Britton.
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 1 2 10 10
Scorers Season 2009/2010
Liam Buchanan 11
Simon Donnelly 8
Paul Cairney 5
Mark Corcoran 3
Chris Erskine 3
Steve Lovell 3
Jamie Adams 2
Kris Doolan 2
Bryan Hodge 2
Jim Hamilton 2
Alan Archibald 1
Paul Paton 1
David Rowson 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday December 26th 2009
Partick Thistle 2, Queen of the South 2
Morton Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 0 3 4 8
Scorers season 2009/2010
Peter Weatherson 9
Brian Wake 4
Brian Graham 3
Erik Paartalu 3
Allan Jenkins 2
Ryan McGuffie 2
Steven Masterton 1
Neil MacFarlane 1
David MacGregor 1
David Van Zanten 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday December 19th 2009
Dundee 3, Morton 1
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday November 7th 2009
Morton 0, Partick Thistle 2
Teams
Morton: Stewart, Trialist, MacGregor, Trialist, Greacen, Paartalu, Finlayson (Kane), McGuffie, Wake (Grady), Weatherston, McAlister.
Thistle: Tuffey, Paton, Archibald, Hodge (Adams), Robertson, Maxwell, Cairney, Rowson, Buchanan (Lovell), Donnelly, Erskine (Corcoran).
Scorers
Thistle: Buchanan (53), Donnelly (55)
Crowd: 2,738
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Monday January 4th 2010
Partick Thistle v Morton
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Prices
Adults: £16
OAP/Full time Education/16-21: £11
Under 16s: FREE
Programme: £2.50
Match Officials
Referee: Iain Brines
Assistant Referees: Tom Murphy and Gavin Ross
