Always look on the bright side? That can be easier said than done when that pesky besom Storm Doris is generating plenty of misery but Alan Archibald, the Partick Thistle manager, did find a silver lining when asked about his club’s recent record against Heart of Midlothian.
During Archibald’s time at the helm, the Jags have lost five of the nine matches against the Tynecastle team. “It’s not as bad as it is against some other teams,” he said with a wry smile.
Thistle will look to build on last week’s 2-0 victory over Hamilton when they host hurting Hearts at Firhill tomorrow. Having been well and truly battered by city rivals Hibernian in the Scottish Cup on Wednesday night, Ian Cathro’s Hearts side will be desperate to repair some of the damage and Archibald is wary of a team that’s nursing more than dunted pride. “I hope we don’t get the backlash,” he said. “I think their (Hearts) manager said it all. Hibs looked up for it and the players also said that after it and they played it more like a derby. I think every manager looks for a reaction after a bad result or a disappointing performance. I know I certainly do. As their manager said he wasn’t happy with it so I would imagine they would come out all guns blazing against us.”
In this fickle game, Archibald knows that sluggish performances, like the one Hearts produced the other night having surged to impressive wins over Rangers and Motherwell, can happen at any time. “It can be so frustrating for a manager when you get a result or performance like that just when you think you can just go out and play,” said Archibald. “It’s not just about that, it’s about battling as well.
“I think in any game you need to win your personal battles, but probably more so in Scotland. It’s a big part of it in games here, especially in the first 15 or 20 minutes, and if you are not up to it then it’s hard to get out of it. It’s massive to start games well and then try to build on what you have.”
With Kris Doolan rediscovering the route to goal with a brace against Hamilton last weekend, Archibald is keen to see others chip in and bolster the credit rating. “We rely on Kris,” he added. “We took him out for a couple of weeks because he wasn’t scoring, hoping for a reaction and we got it with two last week. So we’re hoping that’s the start of a scoring run for him. But we do need others because we had gone four league matches without scoring.”
The hosts will have Christie Elliott back again this weekend following a suspension but Sean Welsh will be out of action for a few weeks now. “He has gone for surgery on a fractured metatarsal but hopefully he will not be out for more than eight weeks,” revealed Archibald.
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