Name is not baggage for Pogba
Partick boss Alan Archibald has no fears new signing Mathias Pogba will be weighed down by his famous name.
The brother of Juventus midfielder Paul clinched a one-year deal with the Jags and should make his debut from the bench when Ladbrokes Premiership champions Celtic visit Firhill on Sunday.
While Chelsea, Manchester City and Barcelona are battling to prise his B#60million-rated sibling away from Turin, Mathias has been forced to accept a less glamorous way in the game.
Spells with Wrexham, Crewe, Crawley and now Firhill bare little comparison to the luxury surroundings Paul was treated to while he was coming through the youth ranks at former club Manchester United, but Archibald knows his new striker will come under the spotlight purely because of the letters spelled out across his back.
However, he insists the 24-year-old can cope with the pressure.
Archibald told Press Association Sport: "Mathias has looked good in training. We are happy with him and so are the players. He has settled into the group really well.
"He gives us something different up front and that is what we needed with only Kris Doolan and Ryan Stevenson for options up there.
"He will obviously get a lot of focus just because of who his brother is but I think that was always going to be the case. It comes with the baggage when you have got a famous family member.
"But he is a driven person and is determined to do well off his own back. He wants to come here and score goals and that's all that matters to us."
Archibald will be hoping for better luck against the Hoops than his side enjoyed last season.
They shipped 12 goals in four meetings with Ronny Deila's team but failed to net even once in return.
"It would be good just to score a goal against Celtic this season, never mind get a win," said the Jags boss. "Last year we didn't notch against them which was really disappointing.
"We never really gave ourselves a chance in any of the games last year. We were a man down or a goal down in the first half in three of the games last season and that made it really tough.
"We need to give ourselves a foothold in the game first and foremost. We need to be disciplined and keep 11 men on the pitch."
Defender Frederic Frans is suspended after last week's red card against Hamilton while Christie Elliott (groin) and David Amoo (hamstring) are also out.
Steven Lawless is back from suspension and Dan Seaborne could feature after recovering from the ankle knock which has kept him out since February.
Celtic assistant manager John Collins knows Partick Thistle will come out all guns blazing.
Collins said: "I enjoyed watching Partick Thistle last season, I thought they were a good football team. The manager has done an excellent job trying to play football the right way.
"They have a similar system to us so we know it will be a tough game. They will be organised and they will try to pass the ball."
Celtic returned from a 6,000-mile round trip to Azerbaijan on Thursday following their Champions League success against Qarabag and Collins expects Alan Archibald's team to try to capitalise on their European exertions.
"After Europe, we have got to be switched on. They will want to make it a high tempo game after our long journey. They will come at us, they are at home," he added.
"One thing I liked about them, they never sat back and defended and played boring football. When they got the ball, they tried to play against us."
Thistle have arguably had the toughest summer of all Premiership teams, losing first-team regulars Stephen O'Donnell, Conrad Balatoni, Kallum Higginbotham and Lyle Taylor and finding recruitment a difficult task.
Collins has sympathy with Archibald but feels the Thistle boss can overcome the losses.
"That's the difficulty being a manager, you lose players," the former Hibernian manager said. "He has lost three or four from last season's starting 11 so he has got to rebuild again. It takes time and patience, but it's the same for most of the clubs in the league, they lose their best players."
Celtic have doubts over Scott Brown (tight hamstring) and Leigh Griffiths (calf).
Charlie Mulgrew is also likely to miss out after feeling tightness in his groin as he attempted to regain fitness following a knee injury.
Nadir Ciftci drops out as he serves the second game of his six-match domestic ban.
Source: PAR
