Partick Thistle vs Dundee preview - Archibald boost for Partick

Posted Saturday, August 06, 2011 by PA

Partick captain Alan Archibald is back in manager Jackie McNamara's plans for the opening game of their league campaign against Dundee.

The imposing centre-back came through a bounce game in midweek after a knee injury.

McNamara also has Paul Paton and Conrad Balatoni at his disposal as their suspensions for being sent off against Berwick last weekend are restricted to the League Cup.

McNamara hopes lessons have been learned after their 3-1 reverse against the Borderers, saying: "We held a productive meeting with the players on Friday over where we went wrong.

"The Dundee game is a hard enough fixture with 11 men so we certainly don`t need to make the mistakes again that saw us go down to nine."

Dundee will again be without injured striker Graham Bayne when they travel to Glasgow.

Midfielder Nicky Riley is in line to start after featuring from the bench against Dumbarton last weekend, with Dens Park boss Barry Smith delighted that his side's league campaign is kicking off.

Smith said: "It was great to go through in the two Cup games that we have played so far, but I can`t wait to get going in the league again.

"Firhill is always a tough venue and Jackie McNamara, along with Simon Donnelly, will be looking for a positive reaction from their players after losing to Berwick last weekend.

"We will have to play well to get the three points."