Thistle To Appeal Bannigan Red Card

Photo by Jeff Holmes Partick boss Alan Archibald will appeal the red card Stuart Bannigan picked up in the League Cup quarter-final clash against Celtic in midweek after reviewing it on DVD. The Jags midfielder was sent packing by referee Kevin Clancy just before the interval at Parkhead for a challenge on Hoops striker John Guidetti who ended up with a hat-trick as the home side ran out easy 6-0 winners. After the game the Firhill boss said: "I think it probably is a red nowadays" but, after watching the match again, he re-assessed his position and his appeal means Bannigan is available for the trip to Hamilton on Saturday. "We are appealing it so he will be available," said Archibald. "There are different boxes you have to tick for it to be a red card and when we played our footage back and had a good look at it, we think there is enough there to appeal. "My mind hasn't changed, the biggest disappointment is that he didn't have to make the challenge, not the type of challenge it was. "It was aggressive but there has to be a few other boxes ticked to make it a sending off." Archibald is looking for his side to show "character" against the Premiership leaders who snatched two late goals to win 2-1 when they visited Firhill in August, a game which the Maryhill manager admits is "probably" the most disappointing of the season to date. The former Partick and Dundee United defender said: "Since I took charge, any time they have had a bad result they have bounced back and we will be looking for that on Saturday. "We looked at the footage of the Celtic game, we had to address it but it is finished now and we move on. "But we did enough in the last match (against Hamilton) to believe that we can go and hurt them. "When you are winning the game with five minutes to go, you should at least get a point. So it was disappointing. "But it is a different Hamilton, they are now top of the league and playing with a lot of confidence so they will fancy their chances. "They lost their first game (to Inverness) but it was a great reaction from them and they have been outstanding. Hats off to them. "It just shows the difference confidence makes to a football team. "We have to work as hard as them and match their energy because they have that in abundance. "Now they have confidence as well so we have to match them in every aspect."