Ian McCall admits injuries are sinking his ship at Partick Thistle - just like what he's seeing across the city at Rangers.
Gio van Bronckhorst and Jags boss McCall are two managers under serious pressure as the World Cup approaches. But while the Dutchman has been given some time to regroup with the Premiership going on ice, McCall's Jags are going full speed ahead with the lower leagues not stopping. His team looked like one of the early favourites for the Championship title but since thumping Morton 5-1 in October, they have lost EIGHT games on the spin - and now sit seventh in the table.
He's had to deal with an extensive number of injuries with skipper Ross Docherty and key defender Kevin Holt among a host of recent absentees. They were missing six of their regular starters for last weekend's defeat to Morton, and McCall reckons their crisis mirrors what he's seen at Rangers, who have had an injury crisis of their own. Gers had as many as ten players out at one point and that has led to Van Bronckhorst being given a stay of execution despite their dreadful form.
McCall said: "It's a concern for me if these boys come back and we keep losing games - then I'm in serious bother. I'm not daft. It's a really bizarre situation. As I've been doing this for so long I've had loads of bad periods. But four weeks ago on Wednesday we went to Aberdeen, Docherty ran into Holt and they injured themselves.
"We were top of the league. We were in the quarter-final of the League Cup so it's been a really bizarre period. But I still maintain, outwith the Raith game when we were truly abysmal, we could have taken points from any other game.
"You've seen it at Rangers, too. Gio has several players out, six or seven who would start. I know there will be an argument they should still win but ultimately that does affect things. These are main players we've been without. I think it gives everyone a lift."
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