Alan Archibald says that Celtic are even stronger this season as Partick Thistle gear up to have a shot at their ‘Invincibles’ crown tonight at Firhill.
Archibald admits he was blown away by the manner of Celtic’s victory over Kilmarnock on Tuesday night given the amount of changes made by manager Brendan Rodgers.
The Jags are fresh from their own morale-boosting midweek result, seeing off St Johnstone by three goals to nil at McDiarmid Park, but the Firhill boss knows that a daunting assignment awaits his men.
“I’m not sure any result sets you up for Celtic but we go into it full of confidence,” Archibald said.
“It’s going to be a tough task as you could see with Celtic’s result on Tuesday which blew everyone away given the number of changes.
“You see the strength in depth. They made a couple of changes against us last season and they weren’t as efficient as they were on Tuesday.
“They made eight changes against Kilmarnock and it was like-for-like, there was hardly any difference in the way they played.
“It was like clones of the first team players. I know they were strong last season but I didn’t think they were as strong as that with the changes.”
It’s not as though Archibald can take solace from having home advantage either, with Thistle actually doing better at Celtic Park last season than they did against the champions on their own patch, and memories of their 5-0 dismantling of his team in May are still fresh.
“It’s a different atmosphere. it’s a bit of a carnival and they bring the fans,” he said.
“They were sensational against us when they came to Firhill the last time but a lot of that was down to us because we didn’t make a tackle in the first half.
“We had too many flair players that night. You need to strike the balance because you will be defending a lot but you need to be able to play when you get the chance. If they’re going to get chances then they need to be made to work for them.”
Kris Doolan is back for Thistle after missing the win over St Johnstone with a hamstring strain.
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