KRIS Doolan admitted it has been a “difficult week” for everyone at Partick Thistle but praised his players for putting their off field woes to one side.
The Firhill legend enjoyed a dream debut in the dugout as the Jags held on to see off a rampant second-half Ayr United at Somerset Park.
Danny Mullen’s header was enough to lift Thistle back to within a whisker of the play-offs and delivered the perfect response to a few days of mayhem in Glasgow’s West End, which began with the surprise dismissal of Ian McCall on Sunday.
“It’s been hard and I’ve never been busier than this in all my life,” the Thistle caretaker manager said. “These football managers definitely work hard. It’s been hectic, but when you see that on Saturday, that’s what makes it all worthwhile.
“It’s all about players. Fans turn up to look at players and watch players. I am happy to watch that as well.
“The players set that standard. That comes from them and being professional in the way they go about it. Their talent shines through.
“This is a notoriously difficult place to come. Any game away from home in the Championship is a real tough one, but especially at Somerset Park.”
Meanwhile, Lee Bullen, the Ayr United manager, bemoaned his side’s lack of intensity in the first-half of their defeat to Partick Thistle.
The Somerset Park outfit failed to make the most of their title rivals Queen’s Park and Dundee dropping points on Friday night as they missed out on the chance to move within two points of top spot.
“Everybody is just trying to give it away,” Bullen said of the title race. “Dundee had an opportunity. Morton have come back into it now. Look at Hamilton winning at Inverness. The league’s crazy.
“If anyone takes the bull by the horns, they’ll walk away with it. But it also shows the competitiveness of the league.”
The result means Bullen’s men have now failed to beat any team in the top six since the start of December.
Of his side’s first-half woes, Bullen said: “The difference in intensity between the first half and the second half is the big difference. Ultimately, it just proves it again that it’s all about the small details. The first goal is so important.
“They shaded the game in the first half but the goal we lost was really poor. The first goal is so important in any game, and then we are chasing it.
“We’ve been in that movie before and come out the other end. We gave it a go without testing the goalie enough.
“We are paid to come in and go out there and produce a result. We didn’t do that.”
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