Osman keen to recreate cup final feeling

Abdul Osman is desperate to give Partick Thistle fans the day out he experienced when helping Crewe to Wembley glory.

The Thistle captain was part of the Crewe team when they beat Southend 2-0 in the Football League Trophy final in 2013.

The Maryhill side have not been to a major final since their famous 1971 League Cup success against Celtic and Osman wants to reward their loyal fans ahead of Saturday's William Hill Scottish Cup tie against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

"I got to the JPT (Johnstone's Paints Trophy) final, which we won, so I can say I won something at Wembley,'' the midfielder said. It was a great feeling.

"I know it's only the JPT but any cup you win, especially at a massive stadium like Wembley, is always a good memory to keep hold of.

"I think there were about 53,000 there. It was a great day, I had my whole family there, and we won as well.

"The whole town went and the whole of Southend went too. It was a good feeling just to walk out and see the stadium and the crowd was a good memory.''

Thistle need to get past the 2014 winners to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in nine years but Osman - who scored a league winner in Perth in October - feels they can make progress.

"It's an opportunity to give the fans some success,'' he said. We are considered a small team in the league so a good cup run would help the club and the fans.

"If we can get to a quarter-final that would bring a whole new belief to the squad, to even push on on the league.

"The gaffer has gone on about it in training. It's a massive opportunity for us.

"We are three games away from the final and it's a game we feel we can win. We won there a few months back so hopefully we can go there and do that again. I think it's going to be a special day.''

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