Alloa rain on Gaz’s parade but Spittal eyes upturn
GARY Caldwell, the Partick Thistle manager, is clearly a glass half full kind of guy.
In his programme notes for their encounter with fellow Championship strugglers Alloa, Caldwell stated they are just nine points from fourth place and there were still 60 up for grabs.
There was no mention of them just being one point ahead of Alloa or rock-bottom Falkirk, a position that wasn’t changed following their 2-2 draw with Jim Goodwin’s side and all the games in the Championship finishing all squre.
Caldwell, however, is right to accentuate the positives. He urged the supporters to believe and if Thistle can string a positive run together they could have those higher in the table nervously looking over their shoulders in the second half of the campaign as they strive to force their way into the mix for the play-offs.
Had they not relinquished the lead twice on Saturday that belief would have grown. Kris Doolan gave them the lead from the penalty spot but that was soon cancelled out by Kevin Cawley although Blair Spittal restored their advantage before the interval. The Jags were unable to press home their advantage after the break and Alloa deservedly departed with a share of the spoils when Dario Zanatta drew them level for a second time.
Spittal was frustrated not to make it two wins on the spin after Caldwell got his first victory in charge against Dunfermline last week, but he believes they can string together a positive run.
Spittal said: “It’s disappointing being ahead twice and not seeing the game out. It was a difficult game with the conditions but we should have been coming away with all three points.
“We’ve got to manage the game a bit better than we did. The manager said it was the little things we didn’t do as well as we did the previous weekend and we’ve paid the price for that.
“We’d talked about building on last week’s win. Now that the monkey was off our back it was time to build on that.
“It’s one of those things as you can look on it as two games unbeaten now and we’ve got to build on it but we’re disappointed not to be coming away with the win.”
Caldwell has moved Spittal in off the flank to a central midfield berth and the 22-year-old is relishing his new role. He revealed Caldwell had given him a pep talk as he wanted him to up his work-rate and Spittal responded in the right manner with an all-action display that was capped off with a goal. He said: “I feel I’m getting back to my best form.
“In the last couple of weeks I’ve played in a different position. Since the manager has come in he’s told me what he expects from me and I’ve taken that on board. I’m playing with a bit of confidence and the goals are coming, so long may that continue.
“The manager said when he came in he expected more from me in terms of offensively and defensively.”