We’ve made Firhill sexy
ST J’STONE v PARTICK Bannigan: Jags used to be last resort for players but now we’re the place to be
STUART BANNIGAN believes Partick Thistle are no longer a club of last resort for frozen-out stars.
The Jags midfielder is convinced last season’s top-six finish and continued Premiership credibility helped entice strikers Conor Sammon and Miles Storey to Firhill.
It’s a statement of intent from Alan Archibald’s side and Bannigan is adamant it’s the sign of a club going from strength to strength.
He said: “Two or three seasons ago – no disrespect to the club – but they might have looked at Partick Thistle and thought they could get better than that.
“They are seeing the way we like to play football, the fact we are growing as a club now and they are seeing a great opportunity to come here and play their football.
“We’ve come on leaps and bounds, have signed a lot of good players and we seem to have established ourselves now.
“We’ve got a lot of players tied down on longer contracts and the club is going up and up.
“And we’ve signed the deal for the training ground so everything seems to be rosy.
“The only hard part will be me trying to force myself into the team.” Bannigan has emerged from a knee injury nightmare to return to a first team still searching for a first league win as they head to St Johnstone today. But he isn’t reading anything into a 3-0 cup win in Perth earlier this month. The former Scotland under-21 rates Saints as the template for every provincial club. And Bannigan said: “We played them in the League Cup but this will be a different game.
“They’ve started really well, as they always seem to do. They always get off to a great start and give themselves a great chance.
“They’ve been top six for the past three or four years and they’ve done really well against the teams round about us.
“That’s the challenge for us. We finished top-six last year which was great for the club but we want to make sure it’s not a one-season wonder and make sure we try to do it again.
“Saints have got the same core of players and even the players they do bring in seem to have a lot of experience. They seem to grind out results when you don’t think they’ll get them.”
Bannigan’s battle back to action has been rewarded with a role in the heart of Thistle’s engine room.
He said: “I was glad to play both of the league games and have a major part in them.
“I’m disappointed with the results but we probably couldn’t have picked two harder games to start with than Hibs and then Celtic. We need to kick on now.
“I’m feeling good. I still have a couple of gears to get up to in terms of my match fitness. But I don’t think I’m letting down the team, even though I can definitely do better.”