SPFL Ladbrokes Premiership
Sat 1 October, 2016. Kick Off: - 15:00
Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
Ticket Information
Tickets for the Partick Thistle end are SOLD OUT. Please don’t travel to Ibrox without a ticket.
If you’re travelling to Ibrox on Saturday please read the important matchday advice below from Police Scotland:
Underground
Thistle fans attending Ibrox on Saturday by SPTE Underground are advised to alight at the Govan underground station and walk the short distance along Broomloan Road to approach the stadium. The use of Ibrox and Cessnock stations are not advised.
The Thistle fans will be accommodated within the north west corner of Ibrox Stadium and will enter via turnstiles 76 & 77.
Using Govan underground station and approaching via Broomloan Road, is the safest and most convenient route for Thistle fans.
Supporters’ Buses
The drivers of Thistle supporters’ coaches are advised to park on Broomloan Road on the south bound carriageway, as the road network surrounding Ibrox is extremely congested post match due to the sheer volume of vehicles, Thistle buses are advised to park at this location and, on departure, travel onto the motorway for an easier journey.
Supporters’ Private Cars
Please be informed that a crowd of over 48,000 is expected on Saturday and the road network surrounding Ibrox becomes severely congested. Please arrive at the stadium early and allow plenty of time for your journey. Parking on Broomloan Road (there will be some scheduled coning to prevent parking at certain areas along Broomloan Road) and surrounding streets is the advised area to park.
Final Whistle
Finally, dependent on the circumstances on the day, Thistle fans may be requested to remain in the stadium for a short period of time after the final whistle. This is purely in the interests of safety and allows for the surrounding vicinity of the stadium to become clear of Rangers fans exiting and thus allows Thistle fans an easier and safer departure from the stadium. Your co-operation is appreciated regarding this.
As his Thistle team prepare for the first trip to Ibrox since 2008, Jags boss, Alan Archibald, knows only too well the challenge that will face them as they run out onto the pitch. He took ptfc.co.uk through his own memories of playing in Govan and looked forward to Saturday’s match when we spoke to him after training today.
“I think Ibrox is always a tough place to go but we’re looking forward to it too, it’s a good place to go and play, the surface will be good and there will be an excellent atmosphere as well which should bring the best out of the players.
“Whenever I played there they would always try and intimidate you, there’d be loud music and the atmosphere would be sharp but if we can go and take the game to them then that atmosphere will become less intimidating quite quickly. We want the players to react positively to that atmosphere though and I’m hoping it brings the best out of them.”
Not many of Archibald’s squad have experience of playing Rangers as Thistle are the final club, apart from Edinburgh City, to face The Gers in competitive action since they were demoted in 2012.
“I think it’s one a lot of players want on their CVs but, as I said to the press yesterday, we aren’t there just to take selfies and make up the numbers. We want to go there on Saturday, play well and hopefully get the result.
“Rangers obviously have a bigger budget than us but on the day it’s still 11 Vs 11 and we need to use everything we have to make sure we get an edge come kick off on Saturday. Rangers have come in for some criticism this season but I think it’s far too early to judge them. They’re a strong possession based team and we will need to work hard all over the pitch to get the result we want.
“We’ve done our homework and we know they’re likely to have a lot of the ball so we’ll need to make sure that when we get the chance we can go and hurt them. We had a couple of chances last week and didn’t make the most of them and that result almost spun full circle which just shows how important it is to be clinical.”
Archibald has almost an embarrassment of riches this week as the return of Abdul Osman from suspension gives him more choice in midfield than he has probably ever had before.
“I thought Adam Barton did very well for his debut last week and Ryan Edwards has been excellent. You might find that Abdul does come back in but the good thing is that it puts pressure on his performances as we have real options in that area now.
“We now have quality across the pitch so we have good options in just about every area. What that does mean is that when boys pick up knocks it isn’t as big a problem. For example, we have a few knocks hanging over us from last week; Erskine, Booth and Lawless have all had issues this week so it’s really good that we have ready-made replacements waiting to get involved.”
There will be full live audio commentary, build up, reaction, highlights and full game replays available to Jagzone subscribers before and after Saturday’s game. To sign up to either Jagzone (£5.99) or Jagzone World (£12.99) click here.
It was another disappointing afternoon for Alan Archibald as his Thistle side slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Ibrox. As is becoming a theme for this season the score line did not tell the whole story, as Archie explained when he spoke to ptfc.co.uk after the match.
“I thought we started brightly enough and we were definitely well in the game. We got into good areas and it felt like we could really hurt them but, at the end of the day, that final ball just wasn’t there for us. When you get chances at this level you simply have to score and that is something we need to get into our game, quickly.
“The second goal came at a really bad time for us and it was incredibly frustrating that they really didn’t have to work very hard at all for it. It’s not the first time a team has got an easy goal out of us this season and we need to get that out of our game very quickly.”
Although the Jags went in 2-0 down at half time there was certainly a reaction as they went into the second 45 and chances did come for the visitors.
“They came out battling in the second half to be fair to them and it was good to see a reaction. Chris Erskine has an unbelievable chance and I still can’t believe it didn’t end up in the back of the net. I think at that point you know it isn’t going to be your day and that really took the wind out of our sails.
“As the half wore on I think we just took a few steps back and probably played three or four yards too deep, that gave them the chance to play the ball and when they get that chance they will take it.”
Despite the good play by Thistle, Archibald is only too aware of how important it is to start picking up points.
“It really tells the story of our season, we’ve played well but came away with nothing. The performances are good to see but we need to start turning them in to points. We can’t keep coming off talking about how well we’ve played if we aren’t getting the wins we deserve.”
Sat 1 October, 2016
SPFL Ladbrokes Premiership 
Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow