HOME TRUTHS
McCall’s men have to cure Firhill form slump that wrecks any hope of revival
PARTICK ThIsTle simply cannot buy a Championship win at home but sean McGinty is adamant they can bounce back from their latest Firhill flop to triumph at Tannadice.
The Jags remain rooted to the foot of the table after Arbroath became the fifth club already this season to depart Firhill with maximum points following their deserved 3-1 win.
Thistle have yet to pick up a point on their own patch, with all eight of their points thus far coming on the road. They are once again on their travels tomorrow when they take on Dundee United, who have yet to drop a point at Tannadice.
having, however, beaten Inverness Caley Thistle and Dundee away from home since Ian McCall’s return, McGinty believes they can topple the table-toppers to kick-start their campaign.
McGinty admitted: ‘It has been disappointing at home. That’s five games now we’ve not won or got even a point.
‘We’ve got to change that tide. We’ve got two games away from home in quick succession. It’s good we’ve got a game on Tuesday and we can put it right.
‘We’ve been doing well away from home and the fans get right behind us and we’ve picked up some really good wins away from home.
‘look, we’ll go up there and give it our all and we’re more than capable of coming away with the three points from there.
“There is not much between the teams in this league. We’ll go up there and give it 100 per cent and I’m confident we can get the three points.’
Thistle won against Ross County in the Betfred Cup at Firhill and also beaten Connah’s Quay Nomads in the Irn-Bru Cup but have a 100-per-cent losing record in the league at home.
McGinty knows this needs to change quickly and hopes two successful trips on the road to Dundee United and Dunfermline can be the springboard to turn around their woeful home form.
he said: ‘I can’t put my finger on it. It’s disappointing, we all know that and we know we need to put it right quickly if we want to do anything this season.
‘We’ve got two games away from home now and if we can get maximum points out of them, then we come back to Firhill and we’ve got to put in a really strong performance to send the fans home happy.
‘We beat Ross County here earlier in the season and beat Connah’s Quay. That’s obviously two cup games where we have performed really well.
‘Against Arbroath, they caught us on the counter with two goals and we conceded a sloppy penalty.
‘It’s disappointing but it’s still early days. We can turn it around quickly on Tuesday, go there and get a win and everyone will be feeling good again.’
luke Donnelly gave Arbroath a first-half lead but stuart Bannigan cancelled that out from the penalty spot after the interval following a Ricky little handball.
Arbroath, however, reclaimed the lead when Michael McKenna converted a penalty after Bannigan was penalised for upending
Donnelly and then Colin hamilton rounded off the scoring to seal an impressive win.
Dick Campbell’s charges are up to fifth place and Donnelly believes their team spirit can help them defy the odds this season.
he said: ‘When I first signed, it took me a wee while to settle in but I love it here. It’s a great dressing room and everyone is together, it’s brilliant.
‘We know what we have and we know we can go toe-to-toe with anyone. Our team spirit is huge.’
Donnelly notched his third goal of the season with his first-half opener as he finished off a perfect pass back from Bobby linn and he was quick to praise his team-mate.
Donnelly added: ‘That’s all three of my goals Bobby has set up this season. so if you get it to him, you know he will always find you and I was happy to be on the end of it.
‘he put it on a plate for me. I didn’t even have to break stride and as soon as he cut it back I knew I was going to put it in. Bobby’s an excellent player.
‘That’s me got my third goal of the season but hopefully there will be a few more over the coming months.’