Partick Thistle Football Club

Tomorrow we start the second quarter of the league campaign with our first visit of the season to East End Park to face the First Division's in-form side Dunfermline Athletic. Dunfermline's form during the month of September was sufficient to earn their manager Jim McIntyre the Manager of the Month award.

The incentive, however, for Thistle tomorrow is obvious. Victory against The Pars would take Thistle back above Dunfermline and into 3rd spot in an ultra competitive First Division.

Recording a victory at East End Park will be no easy task and following the disappointment of our Challenge Cup defeat at the hands of Airdrie United last weekend the coaching staff have had much to ponder over the course of the week. After this morning's training session Assistant Manager Gerry Britton was able to bring www.ptfc.co.uk bang up to date with the latest team news.

"Jonny Tuffey is back after being away with Northern Ireland last weekend and Gary Harkins is back from suspension. Having both those players back is a big boost for us. In addition to Alan Archibald though we have another couple of players that will miss out tomorrow because of injury. Mark Roberts picked up a hamstring injury in training and he'll miss the trip to Dunfermline because of that. As will Ryan McStay who is struggling with a knee injury."

"Liam Buchanan is again in the squad. He had another good week training and he is getting closer and closer to full match fitness again."

Dunfermline meantime are set to be without defender Scott Wilson for at least the next few weeks while striker Ross Campbell's current loan spell at Dunfermline from SPL Hibernian will finish after tomorrow's game.

Thistle Stats

Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
1 1 3 4 7

Scorers Season 2007/2008
Stephen McKeown 5
Damon Gray 4
Gary Harkins 4
Ian Maxwell 4
Scott Chaplain 2
Simon Donnelly 1
Paul Paton 1
Mark Roberts 1
John Robertson 1
Chris Turner 1
Marc Twaddle 1

Last Game
Alba Challenge Cup Semi-Final
Partick Thistle 0, Airdrie United 1

Dunfermline Stats

Current Form - Last Five Games
W D L F A
3 2 0 8 2

Scorers Season 2007/2008
Andy Kirk 6
Nick Phinn 4
Graham Bayne 2
Iain Williamson 2
Steven Bell 1
Alex Burke 1
Ross Campbell 1
Kevin Harper 1
Scott Thomson 1
Simon Wiles 1

Last Game
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Clyde 0, Dunfermline Athletic 2

Last Meeting
Saturday August 2nd 2008
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Partick Thistle 1, Dunfermline Athletic 0
Teams
Thistle: Tuffey, Paton, Twaddle, Storey, Robertson, Maxwell, Chaplain (McKeown), Rowson, Gray (McKinlay), Roberts (Donnelly), Harkins.
Dunfermline: Gallacher, Shields, Wilson, Phinn, Thomson, McCann (Muirhead), Harper, Glass, Bayne, Burke, Williamson (Kirk).
Scorer
Thistle: McKeown (87)
Crowd: 3,092

Match Details
Irn-Bru Scottish League First Division
Saturday October 18th 2008
Dunfermline Athletic v Partick Thistle
Kick-off: 3:00pm

Prices
Adults: £16
Concessions £10
Under 18s £1 (Thistle fans are able to pay at the turnstile to receive this concession rate)

Match Officials
Referee: Steve Conroy
Assistant Referees: Mark Boyle and James Burns