Match Preview
With no game last weekend and without a home game for the best part of a month it will be good to get back to action and back to Firhill tomorrow afternoon when we entertain Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Firhill for a league fixture for the first time since February 2002. That afternoon current assistant manager Gerry Britton was among the goals as Thistle won 4-1. It goes almost without saying that a repeat of that result tomorrow would be most acceptable. It is also highly unlikely with Inverness almost certain to be among the sides in the promotion hunt as the season nears an end.
That end is still some way away but when www.ptfc.co.uk caught up with manager Ian McCall for our usual Friday round up he acknowledged that we are entering an important part of the season all the same.
"We are now entering what I consider to be a very important stage of the season. Around December and January time is the time to really make a move and because of that the next 5 or 6 games take on a little extra significance."
"I'm not going to say that we will win the First Division, that would be foolish, but I will say that for the first time since I came to the Club we have the potential to come close and really compete at the top of the league. I would expect also that Inverness will be competing at the top of the table at the end of the season. They are a good side and we naturally had them watched in the Challenge Cup Final last Sunday. Our reports said that in the first half they played like Real Madrid but they weren't quite so good in the second half."
"Injury wise we are fairly well placed ahead of tomorrow's game. Stephen McKeown is fit again and so is Chris Erskine. The only player that is presently unfit is Liam Buchanan. We aren't putting a definite date on Liam's return just yet but he has been making brilliant progress. In Kenny Crichton we have an outstanding physio at the Club right now and I think Liam might surprise a few people with his return date."
"Liam's enforced absence though does give the opportunity for others to show what they can do. With that in mind Steve Lovell is firmly in contention for a start tomorrow. Not only is Steve a proven goal scorer he is a proven goal scorer at a level above where we are right now. The only slight problem we've had with Steve this week has been in, because of the weather, finding a suitable grass surface to train on. Steve is just one player that we have, Alan Archibald another, that aren't best suited to training on Astroturf. We do, however, hope to be able to train on grass today."
Partick Thistle Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 1 2 8 7
Scorers Season 2009/2010
Liam Buchanan 11
Simon Donnelly 7
Paul Cairney 4
Mark Corcoran 3
Chris Erskine 3
Kris Doolan 2
Bryan Hodge 2
Jim Hamilton 2
Alan Archibald 1
David Rowson 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday November 14th 2009
Dunfermline Athletic 3, Partick Thistle 1
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Stats
Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
3 0 2 14 7
Scorers Season 2009/2010
Adam Rooney 9
Richie Foran 7
Danni Sanchez 6
Nauris Bulvitis 3
Robert Eagle 3
Jonathan Hayes 3
David Proctor 3
Lee Cox 2
Dougie Imrie 2
Grant Munro 2
Andrew Barrowman 1
Eric Odhiambo 1
Own Goals 1
Last Game
ALBA Challenge Cup Final
Sunday November 22nd 2009
Dundee 3, Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday September 26th 2009
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2, Partick Thistle 3
Teams
Inverness: Esson, Proctor, Bulvitis, Munro, Shinnie (Rooney), Cox, Ross, Duncan, Foran, Barrowman (Sanchez), Hayes .
Thistle: Tuffey, Paton, Archibald, Hodge, Robertson, Maxwell, Cairney (Erskine), Rowson, Buchanan, Donnelly (Hamilton), Corcoran (Kinniburgh).
Scorers
Inverness: Rooney (63), Foran (77)
Thistle: Buchanan (37, 39), Archibald (45)
Crowd: 3,218
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday November 28th 2009
Partick Thistle v Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults: £16
OAP/Full time Education/16-21: £11
Under 16s: FREE
Programme: £2.50
Be a World Record Breaker at Firhill
Match Officials
Referee: Dougie McDonald
Assistant Referees: Andrew McWilliam and Stuart MacMillan.
