SPFL Ladbrokes Premiership
Sat 3 December, 2016. Kick Off: - 15:00
The SuperSeal Stadium, Hamilton
Supporter Information:
Thistle supporters will be accomodated in the Spice of Life stand with admission by cash at the turnstiles.
Prices are as follows:
Adults: £22
Concessions: £12
A concession is classed as under 18 and over 65.
Supporters’ Buses:
City Centre Branch:
Pick ups:
Q Club – 12:20
Station Bar – 12:30
Non members welcome.
Please call 07979496154 or email to book.
Jordanhill Branch:
Pick ups:
Jordanhill Station – 1:30
Thornwood Bar – 1:35
Prices:
£10 for adults
£5 for concessions
All Jags fans are welcome but booking is essential.
For seats please contact Alistair on 07817612563 or email
For general enquires please contact Iain on 07779668357
North-West Branch:
Pick ups:
Milngavie Station – 13:15
Esquire House – 13:30
Maryhill Community Halls – 13:45
Prices:
£11 for adults
£7 for concessions.
A concession qualifies as school aged children, unwaged adults, senior citizens & matriculated students
After an unbelievably cruel conclusion to Saturday’s match against Rangers it would be easy to understand Jags boss, Alan Archibald, being a little down this week but if any bad feeling remained he certainly didn’t show it as he spoke to ptfc.co.uk at Lesser Hampden after training.
Although he admits it was a tough defeat to take, Archie is certain his side will bounce back in the best possible way against Hamilton Accies on Saturday.
“Obviously everyone was disappointed after Saturday but we don’t let it get us too down. We don’t get carried away when we win and go on a good run and it’s exactly the same when things don’t go our way.”
It was a similar story the last time Archibald’s side met Hamilton, with a late Eamonn Brophy strike preventing all three points going to the team in red and yellow.
“That was another frustrating one but it was a bit easier to take that day. Hamilton had played well and probably deserved at least a point based on their play. The difference on Saturday was that I thought we definitely deserved at least a point.
“We need to start taking points from these fixtures, especially when we go ahead in games. It looks like the league is going to stay very tight for the whole season and that means that one win can have a massive impact on your league position. If you take last Saturday as an example – we were sitting in sixth when we were leading and ended up finishing the match in last, it really is just that tight.”
Despite the negative nature of the result Archie was pleased with the reaction he got from his players after a very lacklustre display against Motherwell.
“We asked for a reaction of the boys and we certainly got that, which was the good side of Saturday. We now need to take that into the game at Hamilton. We’ve got a good, strong group of lads here and we know what they’re capable of. We’ll need them at their best on Saturday because it is a massive game for us now.”
Finally, the gaffer took us through the latest injury news.
“We’ve not got any fresh doubts. Tomas Cerny was on the bench last week and it’s great to have him in contention again. Other than that it’s just the longer term ones who are all still working hard with the physio to get back to full fitness.”
Having watched his side put so much into a second half performance that definitely merited more than a single point, Alan Archibald was understandably disappointed when he spoke to ptfc.co.uk after the game.
The gaffer said: “I definitely thought we deserved the win, especially based on that second half performance. We were up in the game and dominating both in terms of chances and possession and I thought the lads deserved to be taking all three points today.”
There were a number of controversial incidents at the SuperSeal Stadium but a seemingly legitimate goal scored by Callum Booth that was subsequently ruled out for offside was the clear talking point post-match.
“We’ve watched it back and it was definitely a goal, the linesman has got that one wrong I think. We thought it was onside at the time and the reaction from the boys on the pitch was that it was a goal. It’s a very hard one to take because the boys did really well. We were very pleased with the performances right the way through the team today and we only wish that we could have come away with all three points rather than just one.
“It is frustrating but, at the end of the day, we did have chances to kill the game off and we really need to be doing that, especially when it comes down to these massive six point games. The table is still really tight and a win today would have seen us move right up the table. It’s a hard place to come and I really thought we had done enough to get us over the line with more than just a point.”
The point lifted the Jags off the bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership table but Archibald knows that, with the table as tight as it is, it’s important not to put too much emphasis on league position.
“We don’t get too high when we win and we don’t let ourselves get too low when we lose. Every week there are teams cutting each other’s throats and taking points off one another so things can change so quickly.
“There’s no doubt we have a tough run coming up but it’s all cyclical. We play Celtic twice and then Hearts but after that we play our close rivals again. We didn’t score enough points in the last run of games so we need to make sure we take more from the run between now and the New Year.
“We were pleased with the effort last week and again today so we will just need to analyse the performance, take the positives and build from there.”
Sat 3 December, 2016
SPFL Ladbrokes Premiership 
The SuperSeal Stadium, Hamilton