IAN McCALL is confident that Zak Rudden will continue to give his all for Partick Thistle after the striker signed a pre-contract with Dundee yesterday.
The Scotland Under-21 internationalist will complete a move to Dens Park in the summer on a three-year deal but Herald and Times Sport understands that the Premiership club are keen on pushing through a move that will bring Rudden Tayside before the end of the month.
A statement from the Jags read: “The club reiterates that Zak is an important member of our first team squad and will remain so until the end of the season unless a satisfactory offer is made during the January transfer window.”
Speaking four hours before Rudden’s pre-contract was announced, McCall confirmed that the 21-year-old would be included in the squad for today’s Scottish Cup tie with Airdrieonians at Firhill.
“He’s been terrific and I’d expect no different against Airdrie,” said the Thistle manager. “He’s that type of boy when he’s on the pitch.
“His attitude has been spot on and if he were to leave, whoever gets him is getting a player with a big, big potential.”
The Jags are fairly familiar with this afternoon’s opponents, having faced them on three occasions last season as Thistle sealed the League One title.
McCall’s men came out on top in each of those jousts but all three were close-fought affairs, meaning the Thistle boss is taking nothing for granted ahead of today’s match, especially given the fact that Ian Murray’s side have won their previous five league outings on the bounce.
“They’re on a really good run of form,” McCall added. “We won all three of the games last season but they could have went either way to be honest – particularly the 4-2 game through there. Kieran Wright made a great save at 1-0 and that propelled us on to a comfortable win.
“They’re a good side and it won’t be easy for us but we’re not on a bad run either. I think they’ve improved but we’ve improved as well. You saw on Thursday night how Cove very nearly took Hibs to penalties – it certainly won’t be easy.”
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