Match Preview
Last weekend's victory at home against Ross County, a side that we have struggled to beat at Firhill in the past, provided everyone with a much need boost. Although the disparity in games played between the league's teams gives the league table something of a lopsided look that victory also took us back into the top four and edged us a little bit closer to league leaders Dundee.
Do we consider ourselves, therefore, firmly back in the promotion hunt?
Manager Ian McCall was fairly cagey when www.ptfc.co.uk put that question to him before training this morning.
"I think if we were to take six points, or even four, from our next two games against Queen of the South and Ayr United then that would put us back in with an outside chance again. They are two very difficult fixtures though. Palmerston in particular is a very hard place to try and prise points from. We've had a couple of draws but it's been a wee time since we last won down there, when Liam Buchanan scored twice in a 2-1 win."
Talking of Liam Buchanan everyone was delighted to see him open the scoring against Ross County which took his tally for the season to 13 goals from 20 starts - an excellent games to goals ratio for any striker and Liam himself feels that there are still plenty more goals to come.
"We hope that Liam scoring against Ross County will spark a run of goals from Liam. Liam is a confident lad and he still thinks that he can reach 20+ goals for the season. When you consider the number of games that he started for us this season if he could manage that it would be a fantastic achievement."
In recent weeks the manager has changed the shape of the team with more than a little success.
"The football we played in the first 12 -16 games of the season was excellent but at this stage of the season pitches aren't in the greatest of condition and it is difficult to play the same kind of football. You need to adapt and adopt a needs must type of approach. We felt that we needed to tighten up at the back in any case and we've gone with a bit more experience at the back in recent fixtures. I think that it has worked okay so far though there can be a down side in terms of getting up the pitch and there is a tendency to sit a little too deep at times. I felt that it worked well tactically against Ross County when although they had a lot of the ball they were restricted in terms of many clear cut chances."
So what then of the team news ahead of tomorrow's game. There is one player that definitely won't be featuring.
"Paddy Boyle is joining Clyde on loan for a month. In the last 5-6 weeks Paddy has been doing really well but we have brought Ryan Conroy in who has been excellent. While Paddy is very much part of my plans for next season he needs games right now and I think Clyde have about 8 matches to play in the next month. Kris Doolan's loan stay at Broadwood has also been extended by a further month."
"Paddy loan departure aside everyone is okay and available for selection."
Queen of the South meantime will be without the suspended Rocco Quinn who was on target the last time the two teams met at Firhill on Boxing Day.
Thistle Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 0 3 6 8
Scorers Season 2009/2010
Liam Buchanan 13
Paul Cairney 8
Simon Donnelly 8
Mark Corcoran 4
Bryan Hodge 3
Chris Erskine 3
Steve Lovell 3
Jamie Adams 2
Kris Doolan 2
Jim Hamilton 2
Alan Archibald 1
Paul Paton 1
David Rowson 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday February 27th 2010
Partick Thistle 2, Ross County 1
Queen of the South Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 2 1 9 6
Scorers Season 2009/2010
Derek Holmes 9
Stewart Kean 7
David Weatherston 6
Paul Burns 5
Robert Harris 4
Barry Wilson 4
Rocco Quinn 3
Steven Tosh 2
Dennis Wyness 2
David Lilley 1
Steven McKenna 1
Willie McLaren 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Tuesday February 16th 2010
Queen of the South 3, Ayr United 0
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday December 26th 2009
Partick Thistle 2, Queen of the South 2
Teams
Thistle: Tuffey, Paton, Archibald, McKeown (Hodge), Robertson, Adams, Cairney, Rowson, Lovell, Donnelly (Buchanan), Corcoran (Erskine).
Queen of the South: Hutton, McMillan, Harris, Scally, Andrews, Reid, Burns, Quinn (McAusland), Holmes, Weatherston (Kean), McLaren (Trialist).
Scorers
Thistle: Paton (20), Adams (66)
Queen of the South: Quinn (54), Harris (79)
Crowd: 2,766
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday March 6th 2010
Queen of the South v Partick Thistle
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults : £15
Over 65's and Students: £6
Under 17s: £3
Prices as per official Queen of the South website.
Travel
By Supporters Bus
By Car
The car park may be reached from Portland Drive or King Street and has a capacity for approximately 174 cars. Please note that the car park is closed 30 minutes prior to kick-off.
By Bus
Buses from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Ayr and Stranraer all pass within a short distance of the park.
By Train
There is a reasonable service to Dumfries Station from Glasgow on Saturdays, but the service is more limited in midweek. The station is about 3/4 mile from the ground.
Other First Division Fixtures
Ayr United v Morton
Dundee v Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Dunfermline Athletic v Airdrie United
Ross County v Raith Rovers
Match Officials
Referee: Dougie McDonald
Assistant Referees: Lawrence Kerrigan and Gavin Ross
