ARCHIE’S WARY OF THUMPING BY WOUNDED CELTS
ALAN ARCHIBALD saw his Partick Thistle smash five goals past Stranraer – then warned them to beware suffering the same fate against Celtic.
The Jags boss moved quickly to bring his side back to earth after their Irn Bru Cup cruise at Stair Park on Tuesday night because he knows the risk of a painful role reversal just days later.
With Celtic wounded by the disappointment of a Champions League exit in Athens and a league defeat by Hearts the weekend before the Jags could be stung by a backlash when they meet in the Betfred Cup tomorrow.
But if the Firhill men can weather the storm expected early on, Archibald hopes his Championship new boys can ask questions of Celtic as the game goes on.
He said: “We’d rather not have drawn Celtic. It would’ve been better to get them later in the competition but we’re happy we’re at home.
“It’s a chance for some players to prove they should be playing in the Premiership. We have a few players who’ve never faced Celtic before.
“That means there will be a little more work involved in getting the new guys up to speed.
“We beat Stranraer 5-0 in midweek and I told the boys after that it’ll be the complete opposite on Saturday because Celtic will have most of the ball.
“After their European result they could come out really angry and aggressive or they might be a little low in confidence.
“But I doubt it will be the latter – top players are rarely low on confidence.
“We need to make sure we’re still in the game after 20 minutes to give ourselves a chance.
“As long as the players enjoy the experience and don’t hide from the ball I’ll be happy. It’s a chance to show on live TV how good they are.”
With the initial pain of relegation from the Premiership now passed, Archibald insists he is excited about the rebuild challenge and chance to take a new-look squad back to the top flight.
He said: “We didn’t want to be here but there’s an excitement because it’s totally different.
“If there’s a silver lining to relegation it’s that it fast forwards the careers of young boys like Aidan Fitzpatrick at 17 – who is now our top scorer – and young James Penrice.
“Bringing back that togetherness and hunger is important because losing a lot over a season dents confidence.
“Hopefully we come back stronger but we need two or three more to come in and help the group.”