Thistle coach Garrett Blair says his team are not playing favourites.
“We know Marist will be supporting us more than they have supported anyone else,” he said. “But we have to focus on our own job. We can’t get caught up in their title race. We just look at what we can control.”
Blair is already two players down on last Saturday’s starting line-up. Midfielder Cullen Spawforth has a one-match suspension after being sent off for two yellow-card offences in the same game, and Hugo Elwood is expected to be out for the rest of the season with a foot injury he picked up a few weeks ago.
On top of that, striker Jimmy Somerton is doubtful because of a back injury.
“He has physio on it before the weekend, so we’ll see how it is,” Blair said.
“If the injury is deemed to be not right, we’ll have to change things slightly.”
That could mean resting Somerton to give him the best chance of recovery and making a contribution when it could have the most impact.
Of the four games Thistle still had to play, the home game against Napier City Rovers Reserves on September 9 was one that the Jags would target, Blair said.
This season, Thistle have beaten Napier 7-6 and drawn with them 1-1 away, and lost 7-2 at home.
In the only game the Jags have played against Palmerston North United this year, they lost 4-2 and had trouble dealing with the aerial threat of United’s big men at set pieces. Two goals came by that route.
But Thistle still have some threats of their own. Campbell Hall has the attributes to go it alone up front, as long as midfielders and wide players can get close enough to give him support as he holds up the ball.
After seeing his packed defence hold out Marist for most of the first half last Saturday, Blair thinks they could frustrate United, too.
“All teams are beatable,” Blair said.
“We just have to identify where we can utilise our strengths and look to plug our weaknesses even further.
“If we can be safe at the back and careful in our approach (read ‘don’t foul players in and around the penalty area’) we can look to hit teams on the counter.
“If we can release that this weekend and get a result, it would be a fantastic achievement.”
Blair said he thought Elwood’s season was “done”.
“That’s a massive loss for us. He’s added strength and fight in the middle of the park.
“For him, it’s gutting because he’s come over to play for us and has picked up this injury. He’s keen to come back but he’s heading home for the summer . . . he hasn’t been home for nearly four years. He was three years in Iceland, then went to Australia and came to Gisborne from there.”
Thistle’s other English import, centreback-cum-striker Ryan Noon, would stay on for a New Zealand summer, and he, too, was keen to play for Thistle next year, Blair said.
“They’re good lads and have added a lot of quality to our team. They’ve also made some good friendships, which is helping their integration into the club.
“At the moment they’re just on holiday visas, which means they can’t work. They’re both keen to get working-holiday visas.”
And while Thistle had an eye to the future, they were still working hard to salvage something from this season, Blair said. Tuesday training was still a hard night.
