Partick Thistle: Players 'desperate for a game' after postponements

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald is confident the Firhill pitch will be ready to stage its first Scottish Premiership match for three weeks.

The Jags host St Johnstone on Tuesday, having not played in the league since 2 February due to postponements at home and away.

"If the forecast is what it's supposed to be - dry for the next two days - we'll be fine," said Archibald.

"But, if we get a deluge of rain, it affects the wide areas really badly."

Thistle's home game against Aberdeen was postponed on Friday and an away match against Hearts at Tynecastle had also been called off the week before.

"It's shown with the players in the last couple of days, especially that they're desperate for a game," Archibald told BBC Scotland. "It's been really frustrating."

The Jags are currently level on points with 11th-placed Kilmarnock but have played four fewer games.

Despite the Maryhill club looking into the positives and negatives of an artificial pitch before they were promoted to the top flight in 2013, Archibald stresses that it is not a subject they have revisited.

"I think they've got a place in the game, but we'd rather have grass pitches at the top level if we can," he said.

"It's the players that are important. If you ask any player, they'll always want grass. Any of ours certainly do."

Some managers and players have recently spoken out against artificial surfaces.

"We don't complain about it because we're used to it - we train on it for four or five months of the season," added Archibald.

"It's just been down to the weather this year. We only had one call-off last season.

"We've got an area of the pitch that we have to fix - there's a drainage problem.

"But hopefully, once we get that fixed, we'll just be the same as everybody else with a grass pitch."