Doolan insists Jags can drag themselves out the doldrums
PARTICK THISTLE legend Kris Doolan refuses to believe that the Jags will be dragged into a relegation battle this season.
Thistle sit second-bottom of the Championship standings after a disappointing start to the campaign, having come into the season with title aspirations.
While Doolan isn’t hiding from the dire predicament that they currently find themselves in, he remains convinced that the Firhill side can turn their fortunes around, and his sights are still firmly fixed on the top end of the table.
“We’re not thinking about a relegation dogfight at all,” he said. “We’ve got to keep looking up.
“That being said, there’s no sugar-coating it, it’s been a really tough time for us all.
“It’s all down to us to change that on the pitch. Yeah, the new manager has come in and got his new ideas across which are great, but it’s up to us now to come up with the goods.
“I think there has been an upturn in performances, but it really doesn’t matter if we aren’t getting the results to back it up.
“We can take confidence from the performances of course, but we will only really get that belief back by winning.
“Hopefully from there, winning becomes a habit, and we can shake ourselves out of this funk we are in and into those good habits again.”
There would be no more opportune time to get that win on the board than at Falkirk tomorrow, the only side that are currently below Thistle in the table.
“Every match has been massive for us because we are desperately needing points,” he said.
“This is another massive game for us, and it seems as if they have all been like that for so long now.
“I hope that we can start on a positive trend on Saturday, and then we can carry that on.
“All the players know their roles, and it is clear what the manager expects from us all. We are getting closer to that, and now it’s about getting the win that can breed confidence throughout the squad.”
To that end, he believes that the partnership between himself and Jai Quitongo has the potential to fire them to victory tomorrow.
In what has been a torrid spell for the club, the one bright spot for Doolan has been developing an understanding with his young teammate up front, and while the goals are yet to flow for the pair with just three between them so far this term, the 31-year-old believes it is only a matter of time before they are finding the net on a regular basis.
“I really enjoy playing with Jai,” said Doolan. “I think given time and some more games together, we will only get better as a partnership.
“We’ve had another week training together and working closely together, and that’s what it is all about.
“Partnerships don’t happen overnight, but I think in Saturday’s game you could see that we can link up well, and hopefully given more time to play together, we will develop a goalscoring partnership.
“But on a technical level, I’m very much enjoying playing alongside Jai and hopefully we can complement each other.
“He has time on his side, he’s still a very young player, but he has great attributes with his pace and his power.
“If he gets a few goals it can only boost his confidence and then he can go from strength to strength.
“He can only get better too, so I think if we keep working on our understanding then we have the makings of a really exciting partnership.”