In-demand Lawless is trusted by Jags boss
ALAN ARCHIBALD has backed Stevie Lawless to continue his rich vein of form at Tannadice tomorrow — despite Dundee United’s interest in him becoming public knowledge. The Partick Thistle forward is out of contract at the end of the season, with Mixu Paatelainen last week confirming he is a player who interests him. Archibald forgave the Finn for publicly expressing it ahead of last weekend’s postponed game — with the ex-Motherwell trainee subsequently scoring a last-minute winner against the Steelmen on Tuesday. Despite the added pressure that will be on his player in tomorrow’s Scottish Cup fifth-round tie, Archibald harbours no fears it will affect his performance. ‘Stevie had his best game for a while against Motherwell and the speculation about him leaving didn’t affect him one little bit,’ said Archibald. ‘Mixu was asked the question about Steven and he’s an honest guy, so he answered it. It’s awkward but it happens to every manager at some time. It’s difficult any time but more so as we are playing them on Saturday. ‘Nearly being out of contract seems to spur Stevie on and that tells you all you need to know about him. ‘He has a job to do here first before he thinks about leaving — that’s if he goes. I think he’ll take the speculation as a compliment. ‘I’m sure he’ll be showing the United fans what they’ll be getting if he goes there. We’re still hopeful, though, that he will stay.’ St Mirren, Inverness and St Johnstone are just three of the unfancied sides to have been on the winners’ podium at Hampden in recent times — all the more reason, Archibald believes, for his men to fancy their chances of going all the way in the Cup. ‘With Ross County beating Celtic in the League Cup, it does start making you think: “That could be us”,’ said Archibald. ‘We’ve seen St Johnstone and Inverness have won the Cup and we would like a run ourselves.’ Meanwhile, Jags full-back Callum Booth has triggered an extra year’s contract due to clocking up his 25th game against Motherwell.