Partick Thistle reconsidering transfer targets after injury boost
The Glasgow side have been hampered by injuries in the first half of the season
Partick Thistle boss Alan Archibald may be forced to reconsider his transfer targets in January as key players return from injury.
The Jags' first half of the season has been hampered by a number of injuries to first-team players, resulting in a tough period for Archibald.
A 1-0 win over Hamilton on Saturday lifted them off the bottom of the table, and things could continue to get better after the winter break after the Thistle boss suggested he is set to welcome a couple of players back to the fold rather than look to the market.
“We had started looking at targets for the full-back area because we are so short,” he said ahead of his side's trip to Aberdeen. “You saw Stevie Lawless playing there, (Blair) Spittall and (Jordan) Turnbull have also played there and they're not full-backs.
“We need to make sure they are definitely fit, or we will have to sign another.”
Club captain Abdul Osman has been absent since August after suffering a shoulder injury and is due to return to training, while James Penrice is set to return from a loan spell with Livingston.
Regarding Osman's return, Archibald said: “He got the OK from the surgeon the other day to do contact, but that's the first training he has done this week.
“We might get him for Ross County but it will be a big ask.
“(Callum) Booth is back running and touching the ball as well and will be back for January, the young lad Penrice is coming back as well, and (Mustapha) Dumbuya is back training as well so hopefully we could have four new players.”
The trip to Pittodrie will see striker Miles Storey go back to his former club after a difficult season with the club last year, but Archibald insists he has nothing to prove.
He said: “He missed a year of football and only started one game, which was against us funnily enough and scored but other than that he was on the bench all the time so he needs to try and get minutes back.
“I don't think he's got a point to prove, he was very good at Inverness the season before and scored double figures.
“Its important we give him a platform to play, he's done well in a couple of games for us, and we changed the front today against Hamilton and they did well so it's good to have options, and we back them all to do well."