IAN McCALL has been a busy man this month. Between bringing in new recruits and extending contracts of key players, the Jags boss has been working hard to rebuild the Maryhill club's squad as Thistle look to challenge for the play-offs come the end of the season.
Zak Rudden and Darian MacKinnon joined the Jags midweek and, with the small matter of a Scottish Cup tie against Celtic tomorrow, McCall has no qualms about throwing them in at the deep end against the Premiership champions.
He believes fans will find plenty to like about the new signings - and revealed a change from Thistle's regular 4-4-2 formation could be on the cards.
"Zak’s ready to play and he’s fit," McCall revealed. "When supporters see someone working their socks off it covers a multitude of sins and the one thing he guarantees is that he will put himself about on the pitch and he has a knack of scoring goals, which is great.
"Reece Cole and Stuart Bannigan are certain types of player and Darian is different to that. He covers defensive areas, he puts tackles in and he is aggressive. So it’s about getting a balance. It’s up to Daz now to come in and show that he’s still capable of doing the business and maybe he’ll stay longer than the six-month contract that he’s on.
"The formation I like to play is 4-3-3. At Ayr we had the right personnel for that. We might have to tweak that a wee bit but that’s how I would like to play moving forward. There’s no point putting a formation in when you don’t have the players to suit it.
"We’re hoping to sign another striker and he is good in the air, so we might have to play a different way and get wingers on the pitch to put balls in the box. That’s something that Zak Rudden thrives on."
The visit of Celtic is sure to be a difficult test for the Jags. The two Glasgow clubs met in the League Cup back in September in McCall's first game in charge of Thistle, with Neil Lennon's side recording a comfortable 5-0 win, but the Firhill manager is hopeful of a better result this time around and believes that the game is far from a foregone conclusion.
"It’s the Scottish Cup," he said. "We’re huge underdogs but you can win any game of football. It is possible.
"We were on a good run up until Saturday [when Thistle lost 4-1 at home to Dundee United] and we felt that the first half-hour we played really well. We should have been a goal or two up but then Shankland got involved and changed the course of the game.
"We are better prepared [this time]. That night [against Celtic], we didn’t know the names of the players and things like that. It was a crazy night, I don’t even think we had had a training session with them. It’s a huge task but the players are all looking forward to it."
Tomorrow's game might be played at Firhill but it will not necessarily feel like a home fixture for Thistle. Around 8,000 tickets have been sold to Celtic supporters ahead of the cup tie and the home crowd is not expected to be more than 1,000. But McCall doesn't believe that is necessarily a bad thing for Thistle.
"I think there’s a theme in Scottish football just now," McCall added. "I think there are a lot of fans that don’t seem to think Rangers or Celtic coming to town is a huge thing for them anymore.
"I suspect it’s because it is very rare that you get a result. But we have got to maximise [ticket sales]. If it means we get to sign another player or two next season then I’m all for it."
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