All the preparations have been completed and tomorrow Peterhead co-managers Ryan Strachan and Jordon Brown will aim to get off to a great start with the visit of Partick Thistle to Balmoor. Asked about our confidence levels ahead of our first game, Ryan gave a composed answer:
“It’s difficult to measure our confidence levels right now as the competitive season hasn’t started yet but we are confident in our group. We now have 21 recruited players who we believe that are the right players in terms of age, character, style and they fit with what we are trying to do at the club and that’s playing good quick attacking football. We hope confidence within the group will grow with playing higher level teams and we can kick start that tomorrow with the visit of Partick to Balmoor.”
Peterhead have the edge over Thistle having won 5 games against them in all competitions but Ryan is under no illusions of the task that lies ahead considering The Jags were just one penalty away from the Premiership last term. “Partick are a full-time outfit and I would imagine they would have had about 8 times the number of sessions we’ve had and they have the luxury of sports science, recovery, double sessions, analysis and TV sessions. They will be well prepared and they will be physically strong. Despite having a bit of a turnover in players the bulk of their squad remains and were fractions away from promotion”.
Thistle were last at Balmoor at the tail end of the 2020-21 season and ran out 3-0 winners. Looking at the teams that day, the only current squad members involved were Jordon Brown, Hamish Ritchie and Jason Brown. When asked about our current squad and if there were any injuries or doubts, Ryan said “Kieran Gibbons is a doubt and may be out for 2-3 weeks. He is experiencing a bit of pain in his foot from his operation last year. We do have a few other niggles but I think you generally get that in pre-season and I think we are pretty much all fit now.”
Tickets can be purchased from our ticket office prior to the match or online here
