Jags must go whole nine yards to stay title course

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Jags must go whole nine yards to stay title course

PARTICK Thistle chief Ian Maxwell hopes common sense will prevail after the Jags suffered a further fixture headache this week.

Christie Elliott bagged the clincher for Thistle against Hamilton but he and his team-mates face a congested period
Christie Elliott bagged the clincher for Thistle against Hamilton but he and his team-mates face a congested period

Alan Archibald's side saw their trip to Cowdenbeath last night postponed yet again, leaving them with a hectic end-of-season run-in as they bid for Irn-Bru First Division and Ramsdens Cup glory this term.

The Jags face nine games in the next month as they look to overhaul league leaders Morton and lift their first silverware since 1971 when they face Queen of the South on cup final duty.

Any further postponements would increase the fixture backlog and Firhill general manager Maxwell admits it will be a testing time for all involved.

He said: "It is not ideal. It is a big ask for the guys to potentially have to go and win three games a week for the next few weeks.

"It is well documented that when the likes of Man Utd and Chelsea come back after a European midweek game and go into the league at the weekend it is difficult for them to go and win.

"We are not playing European football, but it is still a game and our guys aren't used to that backlog.

"We can't help the weather and it is just the way things have landed but it is unfortunate.

"As it stands, we only have the last couple of midweeks of the season free so if anything was to go off it could give us a big problem.

"It all depends how things go. The SFL will try and fit them into midweeks until the end of the season. If there is another game called off and all the midweeks are filled then we will have to look at something.

"I don't think you can have relegation battles and promotion battles decided by clubs having to play Saturday, Monday, Thursday, Saturday. There has to be a bit of common sense and I am sure the SFL will be thinking of that."

Despite having arguably the strongest squad in the First Division at his disposal, interim boss Archibald is likely to find his resources stretched to the limit in the coming weeks.

Time is running out for clubs to sign players for the run-in but the Jags are keeping their options open.

Maxwell said: "We are going to have to be lucky with injuries and knocks. Archie will look to rotate the squad as much as he can and whether we need to look at trying to get one or two in to help us out numbers-wise.

"The problem is that we are outside the window and there are not a lot of SPL clubs with nothing to play for that could allow players to leave.

"We are looking in case we need to move, though."

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