McCall aware of Jags’ cup history

PARTICK Thistle manager Ian McCall knows exactly how it feels to mastermind a thrilling Scottish Cup win at Tannadice, having achieved the feat when he was the manager at Dundee United, and the 56-year-old is hoping to repeat the trick tomorrow afternoon.

The Jags boss will take his team to his old stomping ground this weekend and faces an daunting task to get a result, with 18 places separating the two sides in the SPFL standings.

But McCall is feeling optimistic about the thirdround tie, and admits that this year’s competition – that falls on the 50-year anniversary of Thistle’s 1971 League Cup win over Jock Stein’s Celtic and the centenary of the club’s sole Scottish Cup triumph

– holds a little more significance because of the calendar.

He said: “I’ve been back many times now. I’m looking forward to it. I was reading quotes from wee Paul Hartley [in terms of resting players]. Obviously Tuesday [away to East Fife] is far bigger than Saturday. But I’m also very aware of what year it is for our club.

“Fifty years ago we were 4-0 up at half-time against the Lisbon Lions [in the 1971 League Cup final]. Fifty years prior to that, in 1921, we won the Scottish Cup. So I’m aware of that and aware of the history there. So we’ll pick a team and give it our best go.

“Obviously I’ve played and managed at Tannadice when there’s big crowds. But the other side of the coin is that if you’re a faltering Dundee United manager, as I was at the end, the long walk down the track to the tunnel isn’t particularly nice.”

There is one particular threat for the Arabs that McCall is intimately familiar with: Lawrence Shankland, the 25-year-old striker whose career was launched by the Thistle boss when he signed him up for Ayr.

“You have to stop the service to him,” he said. “If he gets good service, he’s capable of doing anything.”