Alan Archibald welcomes cup 'distraction' from league campaign
The Jags sit in 10th position in the Scottish Premiership
Alan Archibald has welcomed Partick Thistle's William Hill Scottish Cup tie against Celtic on Saturday as a good "distraction'' from their current league position.
Thistle have been involved in a relegation scrap at the foot of the Ladbrokes Premiership table and currently sit just four points above bottom club Ross County.
They have shown promising form in recent weeks, picking up wins over Hamilton, County and St Johnstone in the league to relieve some of the pressure at the bottom, but Archibald is happy to shift the focus away from the race for safety for a week.
"We're bang in the middle of a relegation battle,'' he said. "It gives us the weekend off from that pressure, you're not looking at other results.
"It's a one-off game, you know if you can get the victory you're through to the next round and I think everybody looks forward to that and then the draw.''
He added: "We look forward to it. It is a distraction and a one-off and a chance to get in the next round and every player wants to be that hero.''
Thistle suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Rangers on Tuesday in controversial circumstances after Ryan Edwards saw a goal chalked off for offside - a decision Archibald disputed.
But despite a run of five games in 18 days, the Jags boss will not consider prioritising the league by resting key players for the trip to Parkhead.
He said: "If we had another midweek game right behind it, we would be thinking of that (prioritising) but we just need to look at who came through the game the other night and see where we are.
"A lot of guys have played too many games recently so we will look at that, but it will be the strongest team we feel can get the victory with.''
Even though his side will come up against the heavy favourites in Celtic, Archibald insists he will not take the competition lightly and accept defeat on Saturday.
"We felt when we went down to Queen of the South that it (the cup) has a different feel about it,'' he said. "I know we are playing somebody in the same league, but I really enjoy the Scottish Cup and nobody wants to devalue it, I certainly don't.
"Every player has the chance to be a hero and look forward to the next round.'