Match Preview
After the disappointment of last weekend's fixture with Ayr United falling victim to the weather we're back in action this coming Saturday with a home fixture against Queen of the South.
A little earlier than normal www.ptfc.co.uk caught up with manager Ian McCall not just to look ahead to a crucially important fixture but at other various subjects as well.
First of all though he gave us the all important team news.
"There have been one or two players with wee illnesses but nothing too serious and nothing that we would expect to stop them playing against Queen of the South. Liam Buchanan had been ill but he played half of a bounce match with Rangers on Monday afternoon and came through that without any problems and he will be added to the squad. We are, therefore, pretty much at full strength for a game that is obviously very important to both teams."
One player that definitely not be featuring against Queen of the South is Greg Shields who the manager remains very keen to sign.
"I have to stress at this point that the deal to sign Greg Shields isn't done and dusted. We are hopeful that it will be, in fact we expect that it will be, but it isn't done yet. There is much still to be done in terms of getting all the relevant clearance from the US for him and it is quite a slow process. I think it might even be a struggle to get everything done in time for him to be available to play against Morton on January 4th although I would like to think that he will be available to play against Dundee United in the Scottish Cup on January 9th."
"Greg will be a real asset to us. He has played at the top level, has a reasonable turn of pace and can play anywhere across the back. We are hoping to bring him to Firhill with the intention of playing him either as a centre back or as the spare man behind the two centre backs if we change formation."
"Should we, as we expect, complete the signing of Greg Shields that will leave us more than well covered at the back. I think that makes it fairly obvious that there will be some players leaving during what might well be a busy month of January. There could be as many as four players leaving in January. Indeed some deals are already in place. Not all the players will be leaving permanently and some that leave on loan will be players that I consider still to have a big part to play at Partick Thistle. It's just that we feel that a spell on loan at another club might be beneficial to them."
"Elsewhere we will be continuing to work hard to extend Steve Lovell's time at Firhill and we will be extending Jamie Adams loan deal although that is likely to be just for an additional month. The downside of Jamie doing well for us is that Kilmarnock are keen to have him back at Rugby Park. With that in mind it is highly unlikely that they will allow us to play him against Dundee United in the Scottish Cup tie next month."
While most people are in holiday mode at the moment it is just a normal working week for footballers as the manager explained.
"This week will be just like every other week for the players and they will be in training on Friday, Christmas Day, just as they would be normally. That is something that I think all footballers are used to. I certainly got used to training on Christmas Day while I was a player and players these days are experienced and professional enough to realise the importance of preparing properly for a game."
"The weather has obviously not been great this week but we have been fortunate that our training hasn't been effected too badly because of it. We had that bounce game with Rangers on Monday and those that took part in that benefited from playing on a good surface. Gerry Britton took the other half of the squad to the facility over at Toryglen and we've managed to make use of that facility a couple of times this week. The undersoil heating will be on at Firhill too and that will allow us to have a session on the pitch on Friday which will be a big help to us. I must thank the grounds man for that. He has been outstanding this season and has made a real difference."
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
3 0 2 10 8
Scorers Season 2009/2010
Liam Buchanan 11
Simon Donnelly 8
Paul Cairney 5
Mark Corcoran 3
Chris Erskine 3
Steve Lovell 3
Kris Doolan 2
Bryan Hodge 2
Jim Hamilton 2
Jamie Adams 1
Alan Archibald 1
David Rowson 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday December 12th 2009
Airdrie United 2, Partick Thistle 5
Queen of the South Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 2 2 4 8
Scorers Season 2009/2010
Derek Holmes 9
Stewart Kean 6
Paul Burns 5
David Weatherston 4
Barry Wilson 4
Robert Harris 2
Rocco Quinn 2
Steven Tosh 2
Dennis Wyness 2
David Lilley 1
Willie McLaren 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday December 12th 2009
Morton 1, Queen of the South 2
Last Meeting
Co-Operative Insurance Cup Second Round
Tuesday August 15th 2009
Partick Thistle 1, Queen of the South 2
Teams
Thistle: Tuffey, Paton, Boyle, Cairney, Robertson, Archibald, McKeown (Corrigan), Rowson, Buchanan (Hamilton), Donnelly, Corcoran (Erskine).
Queen of the South: Roy, Reid, Harris, McKenna (Quinn), Lilley, McAusland, Wilson (McLaren), Tosh, Holmes, Kean (Weatherston), Burns.
Scorers
Thistle: Donnelly (30)
Queen of the South: Weatherston (64, 90)
Crowd: 1,527
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday December 26th 2009
Partick Thistle v Queen of the South
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults: £16
OAP/Full time Education/16-21: £11
Under 16s: FREE
Programme: £2.50
Other First Division Fixtures
Airdrie United v Dunfermline Athletic (POSTPONED)
Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Dundee
Morton v Ayr United (POSTPONED)
Raith Rovers v Ross County (POSTPONED)
Match Officials
Referee: Steven McLean
Assistant Referees: John Gilmour and Alan Newlands
