Match Preview
Tomorrow Thistle make a rare weekend trip to Victoria Park, Dingwall. Each of our last three away fixtures with Ross County have taken place on midweek evenings. It's not just because this game will take place on a Saturday that we will see a decent sized Thistle support make the trip to the Highlands. There is a real sense of optimism surrounding Thistle at the moment. A Thistle victory tomorrow would take us above Ross County, the current league leaders, in the table and that coupled with the right result from the Dundee v Raith Rovers match could see us climb back to the top of the First Division.
It will, however, be nothing other than a hugely difficult fixture tomorrow against as well an organised and disciplined side as you will find in this season's First Division. A fact that manager Ian McCall was quick to stress when www.ptfc.co.uk caught up with the Thistle manager a little earlier today.
"Although Ross County are top of the league and we are third it is obviously far too early to be talking about tomorrow's game in terms of the title. It's not really until you get to the third quarter of the season that you even begin to look at games in that respect. It would naturally be a good game to win. At the moment we don't look like conceding at the back while we carry a real threat up front. That is a good combination to have but we know that tomorrow's game will be a really difficult one indeed. Ross County have good players are top of the league on merit. They were something of a bogey side for us last season although we did manage to redress that slightly with a 2-0 win at Victoria Park in our last meeting last season. Hopefully we will be able to repeat that success tomorrow."
"As always our preparation for this game will be good. We will be travelling today and staying in an excellent hotel in Inverness. That should mean the players will get a good night's sleep and be nice and relaxed ahead of the game. That approach helped us when we defeated Inverness earlier in the season although hopefully this time we won't have any problems with a virus!"
"We are in the happy position of having virtually a full squad to select from. Only Paddy Boyle is on the injured list at the moment and he has had a course of injections and should be back with us Monday. Assuming therefore that everyone comes through tomorrow's game okay that would mean a full squad. That creates competition for places but those who have been out injured know that with the team playing well they will need to be patient. That said Stephen McKeown and Martyn Corrigan both came through a close door game, during the week and did well and are really pushing for a place in the team. As is Ryan MacBeth who once again impressed during that close door game with a strong Hamilton team and is included in the squad for the game tomorrow."
Thistle Match Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
4 0 1 9 4
Scorers Season 2009/2010
Liam Buchanan 9
Simon Donnelly 5
Paul Cairney 3
Mark Corcoran 3
Kris Doolan 2
Bryan Hodge 2
Chris Erskine 2
Jim Hamilton 2
Alan Archibald 1
David Rowson 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday October 17th 2009
Partick Thistle 2, Ayr United 0
Ross County Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 1 2 2 3
Scorers Season 2009/2010
Michael Gardyne 6
Richard Brittain 4
Steven Craig 4
Paul Di Giacomo 4
Garry Wood 4
Paul Lawson 1
Scott Morrison 1
John Stewart 1
Iain Vigurs 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday October 17th 2009
Airdrie United 0, Ross County 1
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday August 15th 2009
Partick Thistle 0, Ross County 0
Teams
Thistle: Tuffey, Paton, Corrigan, Cairney (Hamilton), Robertson, Maxwell, McKeown, Rowson, Erskine, Donnelly (Hodge), Corcoran (Doolan).
Ross County: McGovern, Miller, Morrison, Boyd, Keddie, Watt, Kettlewell, Wood (Moore), Di Giacomo (Stewart), Brittain, Vigurs.
Crowd: 2,391
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday October 24th 2009
Ross County v Partick Thistle
Prices
Adult Stand - £15 Concession Stand- £7
Adult Terracing - £13 Concession Terracing- £6
Travel
By Supporters Bus:
City Centre Bus
Leaving from The Q-Club in St George's Road (near Woodlands Road) at 8-50am, and The Station Bar in Port Dundas Road, Cowcaddens at 9am. The cost for non-members will be £20 and £10 (U16/OAP).
Seats can be booked from Duncan Murray (07979 496 154).
By Car
The major trunk roads, A9 and A96, connect Dingwall with the North, the South and the East.
By Bus
Regular buses on a daily basis from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth.
By Train
The nearest mainline station is Inverness and fans travelling from the south should alight and board a train that takes them direct to Dingwall Station.
Other First Division Fixtures
Ayr United v Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Dundee v Raith Rovers
Dunfermline Athletic v Morton
Queen of the South v Airdrie United
Match Officials
Referee: Stephen Finnie
Assistant Referees: Willie Conquer and Bryan Braidwood
