A WEEK can be a long time in football. A month can sometimes feel like an eternity – and the past four weeks have certainly witnessed a dramatic change in fortunes at Firhill.
This time last month, things were positively rosy for Ian McCall’s side. They sat proudly atop the Championship after haring out of the blocks early doors, and they had a League Cup quarter-final away to Aberdeen to look forward to.
Fast-forward to the present and it’s an altogether different picture. A 4-1 defeat at Pittodrie, where captain Ross Docherty and key central defender Kevin Holt picked up injuries that have kept them sidelined since, acted as the starting pistol for a miserable run of form for the Jags.
Five consecutive league losses have followed in the wake of Thistle’s League Cup exit, with McCall’s men shipping 16 goals along the way. They have slipped to seventh in the table, eight points adrift of Ayr in first, but McCall is hopeful that the timely return of a few key players to his matchday squad will help turn things around.
“It’s a concern for me if these boys come back and we keep losing games – then I’m in serious bother,” said McCall, speaking to promote Purple Thistle Day at Firhill this Saturday which will raise funds for and awareness of Pancreatic Cancer Action Scotland. “I’m not daft. It’s a really bizarre situation. As I’ve been doing this for so long I’ve had loads of bad periods.
“But four weeks ago on Wednesday we went to Aberdeen, Docherty ran into Holt and they injured themselves. We were top of the league. We were in the quarter-final of the League Cup so it’s been a really bizarre period. But I still maintain, outwith the Raith game when we were truly abysmal, we could have taken points from any other game.
“You’ve seen it at Rangers too. Gio [van Bronckhorst] has 12 players out, six or seven who would start. I know there will be an argument they should still win but ultimately that does affect things. These are main players we’ve been without. I think it gives everyone a lift.”
Arbroath make the trip to Glasgow’s west end tomorrow afternoon and McCall is hopeful that the match will act as something of a catalyst for his side. Docherty and Holt remain out there are a couple of timely returns to the squad.
“Injuries are a wee bit better,” he said. “I haven’t made a big deal of that. Brian Graham is fit. Aaron Muirhead had a jag last week, trained today and is pain free for the first time in four or five weeks. He’s fit.
“Tiff [Scott Tiffoney] trained Tuesday and Thursday really well. He’s fit but he won’t start. I gave him some extra work and I’ll keep doing that till we get him up to speed. But he’s still a threat to come off the bench.
“Cole McKinnon – because he’s so young he’s healed really quickly from the tiny knee problem he had, so he’s almost certainly fit which leaves Docherty and Holt.
“Doc is going to London tomorrow to hopefully have a jag in an area which will allow the pain to dissipate to allow him to come back into training and be available for Kelty [next week]. Holty will be another three or four games.”
McCall remains confident, too, that his side can put this poor spell of form behind them and go on to be crowned champions this season. The constricted nature of the second tier this term, he says, means that a lower overall points total is required to clinch the title.
“I never thought I’d see anything as strange again,” McCall added. “Last season, at one point there was about 15 points between the top five and the bottom five. It was weird.
“This year – fair play to Morton and to Ayr and teams like that that people didn’t expect them to be where they are. Fair play to them. I think Dundee are starting to find a bit of form now, ourselves and Inverness have had a bit of pain through various things.
“I can’t see it changing. I don’t think you’re going to need 70 points to win the league if I’m being honest.”
Despite it all, McCall remains bullish about his team’s promotion prospects. He insists that he does not feel under pressure at present – and retains the support of the club board.
“No, not at all,” the Thistle boss replied when asked if he felt under pressure. “I am very aware of the situation in football and the way things are just now but the board – and to be honest a lot of fans, certainly the ones I speak to – they realise things have happened in the last four weeks that have been outwith our control and they have made a real dent in the spine of the team.
“Once we get the full team on the pitch again… if we don’t win then goodness me, there are serious problems. But the board are very aware of the situation. It has happened very quickly.
“If we can manage to win on Saturday, and that’s a really important game, that doesn’t mean that it’s turned. You need to then win the next one and the next one, because the players know the target is to stay within four or five points of the top by January. We can do a little bit of work with the squad and then we will be right in the mix.”
McCall added: “The defeats have been hard for me personally but you know what? I don’t think that’s a big deal.
“Saturday is what we hope to be a launching pad but Arbroath are down at the bottom and are fighting for their lives. They have got good players and a good manager.
“One of the things is that I am incredibly confident that when we get the full team and maybe do a bit of work in January that we will be in the mix.
“The other good thing is that the league is such that… usually, when you’re going for a league title, you can’t lose five games in a row. But this league seems a wee bit like you can. We may need to win four or five in a row but we have done that before so we are able to do it again.”
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