Partick Thistle Football Club

Our Scottish Cup tie with Dundee United may have taken place a few days ago but the dust has settled on that fixture entirely. A little earlier today www.ptfc.co.uk caught up with Thistle manager Ian McCall to discuss a couple of subjects and the contentious nature of Dundee United's opening goal remained very much a hot topic.

" I didn't say much immediately after Saturday's game but what I did say I thought was entirely reasonable. I think that had we taken just some of the chances that came our way we would have at the very least have taken the tie to a replay. I feel that we can play better than what we did on Saturday but against a side from a higher league I thought we did very well indeed."

"The unfortunate thing is that controversial nature of Dundee United's first goal has rather taken the shine off that. I think that there is one thing that the Thistle fans need to recognise and that is not to take the moral high ground about this. These things happen in football. Had we won 1-0 with a blatant handball from, say, Liam Buchanan in the last minute I wouldn't for a minute condone his actions but we would have taken the win all the same."

"What has disappointed me though is the recent comments from Dundee United claiming that it was an accident. I wish Dundee United no harm at all and genuinely wish them all the best for the next round but it simply isn't true to say that it was an accident.  I would have thought that it would have been best for Dundee United not to say anything further and move on rather than insult everyone's intelligence by saying that Casalinuovo's handball was accidental."

"I'm also disappointed that nobody has really picked up on the fact that by the time Dundee United scored their second goal our formation, as we attempted to chase a cup-tie, was 2-3-5. If we hadn't been chasing the game our entire shape would have been different and that second goal simply wouldn't have happened. In many respects that goal was entirely incidental."

"My final word on the whole affair is to simply say that the Scottish Cup probably owes us a whole lot of luck next season."

Moving on to happier things the manager was able to confirm that no fewer than three players have signed contract extensions at the Club.

"I'm absolutely delighted that Alan Archibald, John Robertson and David Rowson have all signed a one year extension to their existing contracts and the extra pleasing thing is that they didn't need much persuading to do so either. All three players are now contracted to the end of next season ."

"We will be looking at these players on a year by year basis because although they have signed a one year extension I believe that all three have the potential to play for a couple of years at least beyond that as well. I would ask the Thistle supporters to look at David Rowson for example and, ignoring his age completely ,give me the name of a fitter midfielder playing in the First Division."

"I've always said that I really important part of this club is to develop young players and not just to sell on as we did with Gary Harkins and Marc Twaddle, but to be part of the squad for years to come. I feel that we have done that with the likes of Jonny Tuffey, who although here when I came in I think has really developed in the last couple of years, Liam Buchanan, Paul Paton and Paul Cairney. It's as equally as important, however, to have the right kind of experienced players at the Club as well and Archibald, Robertson and Rowson certainly come under that category."

"The younger players at Firhill can learn as much from these three players as they can from myself. They know how to look after themselves and take care of their bodies and conduct themselves on and off the pitch in a thoroughly professional fashion. They also have exactly the kind of winning mentality that you want in a team and that rubs off on the other players as well. It is a major boost, therefore, to have extended their contracts here at Firhill."