Archibald issues warning
Partick manager Alan Archibald has warned his side they will face a team that will battle for every ball when Ross County visit Firhill on Saturday.
Thistle thrashed County 4-0 in their first game of the Scottish Premiership season and the Dingwall team return to Maryhill still bottom of the table.
But they secured a crucial 3-2 win over second-bottom Motherwell on Saturday and Archibald recognised the competitive qualities of County boss Jim McIntyre, his former Dundee United team-mate, in their play.
Archibald said: "He has changed personnel no end and Jim's a winner and he will demand that from the players. He is good on the training field as well and gets the tempo up, and you can see that on the pitch.
"I was reading Jim's comments before the game and he thought it was now or never for them and you could see that in their performance.
"I watched a bit of it their game and they looked like they were scrapping for every ball and it will be much the same this week.
"But we expect the same from our lads as well. We are the home team and we need to impose ourselves on the game."
Archibald, who has a fresh injury doubt in midfielder Stuart Bannigan, added: "We play them twice in the next three games and we need a result after three league defeats in a row."
Jim McIntyre is looking for the same again from his Ross County side.
The Staggies ended a 12-match winless run last week with a thrilling 3-2 home victory over fellow Scottish Premiership strugglers Motherwell to close the gap behind the Steelmen at the bottom of the table to three points.
The former Queen of the South boss, who admitted the win was a "long time coming", will come up against former Dundee United team mate Alan Archibald in the dugout for the first time.
However, even though Archibald's men have lost their last four games - the most recent to a late Dundee goal at Dens Park last week - McIntyre knows his side's performance levels cannot be allowed to dip as they try to scramble away from the bottom.
He said: "Alan and I were team mates at Dundee United for three years. We know each other inside out
"I think he has done a great job. Thistle play the game in the right manner and on their day they are a real threat and can hurt you.
"They are a very dangerous side, they have shown that on several occasions with some great results.
"They had a fabulous result up here against Inverness not too long ago.
"And against Dundee on Saturday, they were excellent in the first half.
"There are fine lines in football. They were a pass away from them getting a last-minute goal at Dundee. That just shows you how close it was.
"But the performance showed a team who are certainly not suffering in confidence despite results.
"So we have to make sure that we take the level of performance we had on Saturday down to Glasgow because that is what is going to be required to get a result."
Source: PA
