TALKING THISTLE Christie: We owefansone after Hearts horror show

CHRISTIE Elliott says that it is time for the Partick Thistle players to repay the faith shown in them by manager Alan Archibald by clawing the club clear of the relegation zone.

The 26-year-old is also desperate to repay the Thistle supporters for their devotion to the cause, and particularly those who paid to watch them go down so tamely at Tynecastle at the weekend.

Elliott acknowledges though that words are hollow if not backed up by action on the pitch, and he says that the Jags players can’t wait to get out there and atone for that desperately disappointing display.

“We’re all massively behind the manager,” Elliott said. “He’s always been brilliant with all of us, but I have to thank him especially for what he has done for me. He’s always given me an opportunity as long as I’ve been working hard and doing the right things. It’s the same for all the lads, and it’s up to us now to take that opportunity and prove ourselves.

“Everyone is sticking together, the team, the gaffer, we’re all in It together and we will go all the way together.

“Look at what the manager created last season. It was great, and we wanted to build on that, but it’s not worked out for whatever reason. Injuries haven’t helped, but we have almost a full squad now, so there’s no excuses.

“We owe the gaffer massively, and we owe the fans as well who turn up week-in, week-out.

“You have to stick together though in the hard times as well as the good times, and now more than ever it is so important that we all remember that.

“The fans always turn out and pay good money to watch us, and we owe them more than we gave them at Hearts.

“We know they will stick with us through this low just as they enjoyed the highs last season, and if we all remain united as a club then I’ve no doubt in my mind that we can come through this difficult spell.”

The two-week hiatus for international duty is a doubleedged sword for Thistle according to Elliott. On the one hand, they would love to get the Hearts game out of their system, but on the other, they are hoping to seize the chance to rectify what went wrong before the trip to Easter Road next Saturday.

“We are looking back at the game, and sometimes you have to lay out a few home truths,” he said. “The lads are all honest with each other and we have spoken in training about what went wrong in the game and how we can cut those things out.

“It was massively disappointing considering how well we played against Aberdeen. It was night and day from that.

“Conceding three goals in the first half of any game isn’t acceptable, and although the second half was a bit better, the game was gone by then.

“The goals we gave away were so cheap, and conceding the early goal left us up against it. They got confidence from that and we went the opposite way.

“We’ve got a number of games left now where we know exactly what we need to do, and we have to get back to the level of performance we showed against Aberdeen, and if we can do that, then we’ll be fine.

Elliott’s return from injury is a sliver of light on what has been a dark few weeks for Thistle, and he points to the display against Aberdeen in his first game back as a sign of what the team are capable of producing.

“It was a little bit of a shock to get pitched straight back into the team for the Aberdeen game, but I thought I played well and the team did too,” he said. “The Hearts game was so disappointing though, so it has been a little bittersweet coming back at this point.

“As a team though, we know what we need to do. We’ve got eight games left, and if we play the way we know we can, we will be okay.” games, against Partick and Hamilton, before he returns to the dugout for the final game before the split, against Ross County.

And, although he struggles watching games detached from the action in the stand, he is convinced he has the back-up he needs to ensure the players get by without him.

Lennon, who was upset with referee John Beaton’s display on Friday, said: “It’s a good job I was in the stand after what I witnessed in the second-half!

“I don’t enjoy it, it’s difficult. You can’t have an influence as much as you would like. But I’ve got good staff here who sent the team out in a strong frame of mind.”