Match Preview
2012 hasn’t been a great year for Partick Thistle so far with 1-0 defeats in each of the two games played since the turn of the year. Dundee are the visitors to Firhill tomorrow afternoon and the hope is that it will be third time lucky and that we finally record our first victory of the New Year.
We will, however, been without Club Captain who starts a two game suspension tomorrow following his red card in our last outing against Hamilton. Despite Archibald’s suspension it looks as if tomorrow’s game might come just too soon for Willie Kinniburgh who made his comeback for the reserves on Tuesday night. Said Thistle manager Jackie McNamara;
“Although he naturally felt a bit stiff the day after the game, Willie came through the 90 minutes without any problems. We’ll need to see how he is but Willie himself felt that he wasn’t sharp enough which us understandable given the length of time that he has been out for. Willie has been doing more and more training but it’s a big ask for him to go straight into the team after being out since August. We’ve a closed door game arranged for Monday as Willie isn’t the only player that is in need of a game or two at the moment.”
In addition to Willie’s return to action there were other positives to take from the 4-0 win over Cowdenbeath, the manager continuing;
“It was good to see the strikers, Christie Elliott, who scored twice, Shaun Fraser and Tommy Stewart get among the goals during that game. We have been lacking up front in the last few games and hopefully those goals will help inject a bit of confidence.”
“For Shaun Fraser it was his first game since coming back from his loan from Stenhousemuir. It has been a bit stop, start for Shaun this season and he is still working on building up his fitness but he gives us another option up front. We do have a number of options for the striking positions and the hope is that once one goal comes a few more will quickly follow.”
“Iain Flannigan was supposed to have played in Tuesday night’s reserve game but he suffered a spasm in his back and physio Kenny Crichton felt that it was best that he was rested on Tuesday evening.”
The manager himself will be less than a 100% fit tomorrow as he explains;
“I’m due to have an operation on my knee today and I will be on crutches tomorrow. It’s frustrating as I was supposed to go to Belfast on Sunday as part of my pro-licence but I’ve been told that I can’t fly so soon after the operation.”
Returning to tomorrow’s game the manager stressed the importance in scoring first.
“In the First Division the first goal is often crucial and I feel that it is vital that we get the first goal against Dundee this afternoon. Hopefully if we can do that we can take confidence from it and go on and exploit any gaps that Dundee might leave in searching for an equaliser.”
Thistle Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 0 3 3 4
Scorers Season 2011/2012
Paul Cairney 7
Kris Doolan 6
Christie Elliott 5
Chris Erskine 4
David Rowson 4
Tommy Stewart 2
Conrad Balatoni 1
Stephen O’Donnell 1
Own Goals 1
Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Friday January 13th 2012
Hamilton Accies 1, Partick Thistle 0
Dundee Stats
Current Form – Last Five Games
W D L F A
2 1 2 6 4
Scorers Season 2011/2012
Steven Milne 12
Jake Hyde 5
Gavin Rae 5
Ryan Conroy 4
Matthew Lockwood 3
Nicky Riley 3
Stephen O’Donnell 2
Gary Irvine 1
Jamie McCluskey 1
Neil McGregor 1
Leighton McIntosh 1
Rhys Weston 1
Own Goal 1
Last Game
William Hill Scottish Cup Fourth Round Replay
Tuesday January 17th 2012
Kilmarnock 2, Dundee 1
Last Meeting
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday October 29th 2011
Dundee 0, Partick Thistle 1
Teams
Dundee: Douglas, Irvine, Lockwood (McKeown), O’Donnell, McGregor, Weston, Riley, Rae, McIntosh (Gibson0, Milne, Conroy (McCluskey).
Thistle: Scully, Paton, Sinclair, Hutton, Balatoni, Archibald, Cairney, Rowson, Erskine (Bannigan), Elliott (Doolan), O’Donnell (Stewart).
Scorer
Thistle: Cairney (25)
Crowd: 4,236
Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday January 21st 2012
Partick Thistle v Dundee
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Prices
Adults £17
OAP (65+) / Youth (16-21) / Full Time Education £12
Under 16s FREE
Match Officials
Referee: John McKendrick
Assistant Referees: Stuart Macaulay and Alan Hogg
Other First Division Fixtures
Ayr United v Hamilton Academical
Livingston v Queen of the South
Raith Rovers v Falkirk
Ross County v Morton
