Jags ace wil replay team he faced at start
switched McKay over to my side and he just ran me.
“I got taken off after an hour and we lost 4- 0. But even then it was a great experience for me.
“I was only 17 at the time and there were 47,000 fans inside the ground for that game.
“R a n g e r s we r e a massive team in the league, of course, and while we lost – it was brilliant to play that day.
“Now hopefully I’ll be the one attacking them on Friday night.
“It will be tough against them. They have brought in a lot of players this summer but we just need to concentrate on ourselves.
“Thistle were unlucky against Rangers a few times last season and the manager wants us to pick up more points against the bigger teams.
“The Aberdeen game recently was a big opportunity for us and we let it slip late on. So let’s hope we can do better against Rangers. We’ve played well against Celtic this season a l ready and we’ l l ta ke conf idence from that. The performance was there even if the result wasn’t.”
Thistle are gearing up for a doubl e - hea der a ga ins t Caixinha’s team with a Betfred Cup quarter-final coming just four days after their Premiership showdown.
Games against the big guns are one of the reasons why Spittal left Tannadice to hook up with Alan Archibald’s men.
And he has revealed that he’s under pressure to achieve success with the Jags – because his pal Ross is a Firhi l l season-ticket-holder!
He said: “These two Rangers games will be great occasions, especially the cup tie.
“A lot has been made of the club not getting to Hampden for a long time so we’ll need to go into that one thinking about an upset. Most folk will fancy Rangers but if we do our job we can win.
“It would mean a lot to get to a semi- f inal and play at Hampden with Thistle so there will be a lot at stake.
“One of my pals, Ross, is a Partick fan and he was telling me that they haven’t been to Hampden in so long.
“It would mean so much to him so we need to go out there and do our bit for them. I went to school with him and he’s a huge Thistle supporter.
“He was one of the first to text me when I signed – I don’t know how delighted he was!
“It’s a weird feeling because he’s my pal and I’d like to think he sticks up for me in the stands if I’m getting flak.”
Spittal scored at Ross County yesterday but it wasn’t enough to seal Thistle’s first league win of the season as they conceded late on in a 1-1 draw.
Arch i b a ld ’ s men a re notoriously slow starters and beating Rangers at home would be the perfect pick-me-up.
Spittal said: “The only negative since I moved here is we haven’t won many games.
“A lot has been made of the slow starters thing but it’s not what we wanted.
“But it’s very early. If we play to our strengths, we know we can win games.
“The boys set the bar high last season but it’s going to be tough to get into the top six again. That said, the club has had a taste and want s it again.”