Mark: Thistle can turn it round like we did

MARK RIDGERS is bemused by the backlash his old gaffer Alan Archibald is facing at Partick Thistle.

But the Inverness keeper insists the embattled Jags boss can take heart from knowing revitalised Caley Thistle went through the same pain last season after dropping down from the Premiership.

They’ve now gone 15 games unbeaten, a run stretching back to mid-March.

Today’s visitors from Firhill have won just four games over that period, with unrest among the fans evident since last week’s Irn-Bru Cup exit to East Fife.

Ridgers, who had a six-month spell at the Jags under Archibald from January 2017, said: “The way it went last year for Partick was crazy because they’d kept the majority of players from the season before. It was strange to see them get relegated.

“And after the East Fife result I saw fans saying the manager should go.

“After relegation Archibald has taken on the task of BY ALASDAIR FRASER rebuilding but straight away the fans turn against him despite his legacy at the club as player and manager.

“It just shows what football is about. It’s a results-driven business. The fact he stayed this summer was down to the respect in which he is held at Partick and it is really early days.

“As we saw here at Inverness last season, just because they’ve come down from the top flight people expect them to be instantly challenging to go back up.

“Ourselves and Ross County are up there but Partick could get a couple of results and be straight up there. It is so tight and it will be like that through the season.”

It is a measure of his own form and the team’s progress under John Robertson that Ridgers is now averaging close to a clean sheet every two games.

The ex-Hearts and Scotland Under-21 keeper certainly feels the team has the potential to push for promotion this season.

And he added: “That’s 50 appearances I’ve made for the club – the longest I’ve played in any one team.

“My confidence is back. I’m back to feeling like I was a couple of years ago.”

It’s a tall order for Archibald as he urges his team to put the disappointment against East Fife behind them. He said: “Inverness ended last year well and you can see their form has carried on into the new season so we’ll have to be prepared. Letting the East Fife result get to us wouldn’t help anything and we’re now aiming to bounce back at Inverness.”