Preview Partick Thistle

Ladbrokes Championship: (away) v Partick Thistle, Saturday 21st September 2019 kick off 3.00pm at the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill.

It’s just the sixth league fixture of the season but for Dunfermline and Partick Thistle this is looking like a must win game. Neither side has had a league victory, both have two points courtesy of two drawn games.

Dunfermline have picked up one point off Dundee and Queen of the South, Partick off Alloa Athletic and Arbroath. Before leaving his position as Thistle manager on Wednesday, Gary Caldwell appeared as frustrated as Stevie Crawford. Caldwell lamented after his team’s last outing at Arbroath that his players are doing all the right things on the training pitch but just not turning it on the park.

Having seen his side rely heavily on the work of keeper Scott Fox, Caldwell singled out performance and mentality as particularly worrying. Jags and Pars are two points behind Alloa Athletic in eighth place and maybe it will be more important for both not to lose this match.

Milestones Partick (away)
Last League Victory | 25/09/10 | 2-0 | First Div
Last League Defeat | 08/12/18 | 0-2 | Championship
Best League Victory | 20/04/66 | 6-2 | Div One*
Worst League Defeat | 10/11/34 | 1-7 | Div One*
*Pre league reconstruction

In the previous 86 league meetings Dunfermline have won 35, Partick 27 and 24 have been drawn but at Firhill the home side has the upper hand with 18 wins to 14.

Dunfermline v Partick Thistle: The Full League Record
P | W | D | L | For | Agst
44 | 21 | 14 | 9 | 73 | 57 | At East End Park
42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 52 | 73 | At Firhill
45 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 77 | 72 | Division One (up to 1975)
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 10 | Premier Division (since 1975)
30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 32 | 40 | First Division (since 1975)
4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | Championship
86 | 35 | 24 | 27 | 126 | 129 | TOTALS

Last Twelve League Matches v Partick Thistle
The last dozen league games between the teams have seen Dunfermline win three, drawn four and lost five.

Date | H/A | F-A | Scorers
06/04/19 A 2-2 [1-0] Beadling: [2-0] Anderson: [1-2] Blair (og): [2-2] McDonald.
28/02/19 H 3-0 [1-0] Anderson, [2-0] Devine, [3-0] Anderson
08/12/18 A 0-2 [0-1] Spittal, [0-2] Storey.
28/09/18 H 1-0 [1-0] Connolly
27/04/13 A 3-3 [0-1] McMillan, [1-1] Wallace, [2-1] Thomson, [3-1] Thomson, [2-3] Erskine, [3-3] Lawless.
02/03/13 H 0-4 [0-1] Craig, [0-2] Forbes, [0-3] Craig, [0-4] Craig.
10/11/12 A 1-5 [0-1] Lawless, [1-1] Muirhead og, [1-2] Balatoni, [1-3] O`Donnell, [1-4] Forbes, [1-5] Lawless.
18/08/12 H 0-1 [0-1] Lawless
26/03/11 H 0-0
29/01/11 A 0-2 [0-1] [0-2]
14/12/10 H 0-0
25/09/10 A 2-0 [1-0] Clarke, [2-0} Kirk.

Last meeting at Firhill
Partick Thistle 2 Dunfermline 2
6 April 2019, Ladbrokes Championship

Jackson Longridge won a ninth minute corner that Blair lobbed high into the box and although Lee Ashcroft rose to meet it Thistle got the ball away. Louis Longridge regained possession on the left and picked out Tom BEADLING in the left side of the box. He took a touch before burying his shot in the bottom right. 0-1

A second Pars goal followed in 24 minutes from a corner on the right after Faisal El Bakhtaoui ‘s shot had been turned into the sidenetting. Louis Longridge took the setpiece and Bruce ANDERSON timed his run to meet the low cross and steered the ball in at the far post. 0-2

The warnings were there and Thistle got a goal back in 31 minutes. James Penrice passed to Scott McDonald on the left side of the penalty box and his firm strike along the six yard line cut out the keeper only for Ryan BLAIR tracking back to turn the ball into his own net. 1-2

Thistle grabbed the equaliser in 77 minutes when sub Miles Storey’s pass to pick out McDONALD was deflected off the chest of James Craigen over Danny Devine and on for the striker to net. 2-2

PARTICK THISTLE: Conor Hazard: Jack McMillan (Joe Cardle HT), Steven Anderson, Steven Saunders (Aidan Fitzpatrick 75), James Penrice, Sean McGinty, Blair Spittal, Stuart Bannigan (c), Shea Gordon (Miles Storey 70), Kris Doolan, Scott McDonald.
SUBS NOT USED: Craig Slater, Lewis Mansell, Gary Harkins, Jamie Sneddon (GK).

DUNFERMLINE: Ryan Scully: James Craigen, Lee Ashcroft (c), Danny Devine, Jackson Longridge: Tom Beadling: Matthew Todd (Ryan Williamson 56), Ryan Blair, Louis Longridge: Faissal El Bakhtaoui (Myles Hippolyte 83), Bruce Anderson (Lewis McCann 86).
SUBS NOT USED: Mark Durnan, James Vincent, Kallum Higginbotham, Cammy Gill (GK)

Form Last Six Matches

DUNFERMLINE
Inverness Caley Thistle (H) L 0-1
Alloa Athletic (H) L 1-2
Arbroath (A) L 0-1
Dundee United (H) L 0-2
Celtic (A) L 1-2 AET
Queen of the South (A) D 1-1

PARTICK THISTLE
Arbroath (A) D 1-1
Montrose (A) W 2-0
Ayr United (H) L 2-3
Morton (A) L 2-3
Ross County (H) W 3-2
Dundee United (H) L 1-2

Recent Form

Partick Thistle are unbeaten in this season’s cup competitions but they are still seeking their first league win. With just two draws they are level on points with Dunfermline at the foot of the table.

After a confidence building Betfred campaign where they won their group and defeated Premier League opponents St Mirren, and an impressive display against Dundee and Celtic, Dunfermline are now seeking to end a run of seven matches without a win.

DUNFERMLINE
League Position: 10th
League Points: 2
Goal Difference: -4
League Record: P5 W0 D2 L3 GF3 GA7
Last Six Match Form: DDLLLL

PARTICK THISTLE
League Position: 9th
League Points: 2
Goal Difference: -3
League Record: P5 W0 D2 L3 GF7 GA10
Last Six Match Form: LDLLWD

Above: Ryan Williamson and Joe Cardle are both now at Partick Thistle

Last time out

DUNFERMLINE (v Inverness Caley Thistle): Cammy Gill: Aaron Comrie, Lee Ashcroft, Lewis Martin, Josh Edwards (Danny Devine 77): Tom Beadling, Paul Paton (c), Kyle Turner (Harry Cochrane 72), Lewis McCann (Josh Coley 72), Greg Kiltie, Kevin Nisbet.
SUBS NOT USED: Andy Ryan, Gabby McGill, Matty Todd, Ryan Scully (GK)

PARTICK THISTLE (v Arbroath): Scott Fox: Osman Kakay, Tom O`Ware, McGinty, James Penrice: Reece Cole, Cameron Palmer, Tommy Robson (Raffaele De Vita 40), Joe Cardle (Lewis Mansell 63), Kenny Miller, Dario Zanatta
SUBS NOT USED: Ryan Williamson, Ben Hall, Mouhamed Niang, Steven Saunders, Jamie Sneddon (GK).

Other Championship Fixtures
Alloa Athletic v Ayr United
Dundee United v Arbroath
Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Queen of the South
Morton v Dundee

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