ARCHIE RAGES

From Back Page with a last-gasp draw through Kris Doolan at the new-look stadium yesterday after the game was given the go-ahead by safety bosses at the 11th hour.

Thistle will demand a probe by the SPFL this morning into events leading up to the game as Archibald revealed his players were unsettled by having the match hanging in the balance.

The new £12million main stand still requires extensive internal works but at 9am yesterday Hearts won the right to host games in the coming weeks after a safety certificate was issued just six hours before kick-off.

Archibald said: “I totally back our club statement. It wouldn’t have happened had Rangers been playing here, would it?

“That’s not a wee club mentality but more to do with the traffic and personnel that would have been coming. They wouldn’t have allowed it to go to the last minute.

“It would have been better to have shown more common sense rather than have Hearts rushing about when we could have set a date on Tuesday or Wednesday like with Scottish Cup replays.

“Towards the end of the week it was a real problem for my players. I overheard them talking on Saturday, ‘Is it going to be on or is it off ? Do we know yet?’

“I saw a bit of doubt coming into them and when you look for total focus when the game is on it’s the last thing you want.

“The last couple of days have been difficult. Nothing against Hearts, they were desperate to get the game on and so were we.

“The league should have taken a stance. They should have made a decision and given them a cut-off point. That would have been a lot easier. In the end, I thought we deserved the point.”

Thistle said they were “deeply unhappy” with the late go-ahead in a statement before kick-off that revealed they would be calling for an SPFL investigation.

It added: “Specifically, we will be asking why it was allowed to continue to such a late stage, damaging Scottish football at a time when we are all working hard to attract new fans.”

Hearts owner Ann Budge admits the last seven days have been the most stressful of her life and rejected Archibald’s claims a midweek date would have suited the Firhill club.

She said: “The easy option would have been to say on Monday or Wednesday, ‘This is too difficult let’s postpone the game.’ Nobody wanted that – Thistle didn’t want that.

“I had a duty to really push it to the wire because so many people would have had different problems. We felt it was the right thing to do.”