ALAN ARCHIBALD, the Partick Thistle manager, admits he has fallen out of love with the Betfred Cup as he continues to battle early season injury problems.
The Firhill medical team has been too busy for Archibald’s liking as he prepares for a crucial encounter against St Mirren on Saturday.
Callum Booth, Abdul Osman and new signing Niall Keown were all absent as Thistle slipped to a disappointing 1-1 draw with Livingston last weekend.
Archibald said: “I was a fan of the Betfred Cup initially but once you get a few injuries it puts you off. Last week we only had 10 senior outfield players, young James Penrice started and we had four kids on the bench. Stuart Bannigan played 90 minutes even though he’s just back from a long-term injury but that’s what you’ve got to do, it hits you hard if you’ve got a few injuries at the start of the season.”
Gary Fraser and Mustapha Dumbuya face extended periods on the sidelines, but Archibald did hint that at least one of last week’s missing three could return tomorrow.
Despite his selection struggles, Archibald was positive as he looked ahead to the game against Jack Ross’ men, a tie that will pit two of the country’s most-lauded young managers against each other.
He said: “It should be a good game, you have two teams with a similar style who like to pass the ball. We need to win the game and it’s the same for them as well. I think Jack’s done a brilliant job at St Mirren, there’s a lot of Premier League standard players in that squad so it will be a really tough fixture. We’ve got to go for it, we lost out on penalties last week and it means Livingston are in the driving seat in the group so we need to go out and win the game.”
An injury-ridden summer has underlined the need for new blood at Firhill and Archibald conceded that his hand has been forced as he attempts to shore up his squad – suggesting that at least three new arrivals were needed.
But the manager confirmed he was under no illusions that reinforcements would be easy to come by as Premiership clubs compete for the attention of would-be recruits.
He said: “We’re all after the same players. You have to use everything you can to sell the club to players because money across all the teams in the bottom half of the table is probably similar.
“Selling points for us are that we have training facilities and are based in Glasgow; also what we achieved last year in terms of league position. We got Niall [Keown] and Blair Spittal in, but with these injuries and Liam Lindsay moving on things have changed – we were comfortable until then and with the Betfred Cup coming around so quickly it puts added pressure on you. But our main priority just now is getting people back, we wouldn’t be as desperate for new signings if we had guys fit again.”
Thistle’s first-ever top-six finish was undoubtedly a factor in capturing the currently sidelined Keown on a full-time basis.
The defender joined on loan from English side Reading last year and Archibald appeared optimistic that similar coups could be possible.
However, having been forced to turn to youth to bolster his squad at the weekend, the man who made more than 250 appearances for Thistle said there could be chances for new stars to emerge.
Archibald added: “We’ve had young players with us for pre-season, young James started on Saturday with Callum Booth being out and Kevin Nesbit got on as well so it’s a chance for them. You see it with a lot of clubs in pre-season, it’s a chance for boys to get in the team and it’s down to them whether they grab it or not.”
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