Abdul Osman already has a cherished cup memory. He scored the winning penalty in front of the Kop at Anfield as Northampton Town claimed a memorable scalp by beating Liverpool in the Carling Cup of 2010. “I’d love to have some more recent cup memories than that, though,” said the 29-year-old.
In that respect, what about scoring the winner for Partick Thistle at McDiarmid Park? Surely every footballer’s dream, eh? Of course, Osman has already performed that trick once this season when his last-gasp goal gave the Jags victory over St Johnstone on league duty. Having lost to the Perth team at Firhill last week, Osman and his Thistle team-mates get the opportunity to exact a swift revenge in the Fair City when the two clubs meets again the fifth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup. “It would be amazing if I could score the winner again this weekend,” he said. “We’ve got a decent record against them so we’ll not going up there afraid; we’ll be going there with confidence.
“Obviously, we know we’re not going to win the league so having a cup run is important, especially for the fans. We’re considered to be a small team so to bring them some success would be great.
“As it stands, we’re potentially only three games away from the final but we’ve got to get St Johnstone out of the way first. I wouldn’t say St Johnstone are awkward to play against but they are very organised. They use two hard-working banks of four, with everyone knowing what they’re supposed to do for the team.
“Their strikers are the ones who cause you problems and, if you can keep them quiet, you have a chance against them.”
Osman continues to revel in his role as Thistle captain and he is looking to lead by example again this weekend help inch the Glasgow club further along the road to Hampden.
“Ever since the gaffer gave me the captaincy I’ve thrived on the responsibility,” he said. “I’ve found the job easy because we have a lot of leaders in our dressing room. I’m not the type of captain who pins players against a wall. We have a lot of younger players in our squad so it’s been more a case of putting an arm round their shoulders and encouraging them."
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