Kris Doolan insists the agony of suffering Premiership relegation through the play-offs is driving him on to make history and take Partick Thistle back to the top.
The club’s record scorer was still leading the line for Alan Archibald’s side in 2018 and netted the opener as the Jags stormed into the lead against Championship Livingston. But the Lions roared back to win both legs for a 3-1 aggregate victory that condemned Thistle to relegation.
Now in the manager’s seat Doolan is determined to erase that painful memory in this week’s double header with Ross County and become the first side to win the end of season drama after finishing fourth in the Championship. He said: “It was hard as it was the club I Iove and we ended up going down. But the flip side was what I learned in those experiences and hopefully they can help our players ahead of what is coming and how to deal with it.
“We have a lot of good pros who have been through this before, they have played in the Premiership, and they understand how to prepare for games. This is a big opportunity for us. Everyone keeps saying that nobody has finished fourth and been promoted, but I said at the start I want to break records.
“We won’t accept the fact it’s not been done, but we want to be the team to do it. We play every game to win, as if we do then we will go through and if you do that then you have a chance to be in the Premiership next.”
The rookie boss has lost just one of his 17 games in charge and having blasted in 16 goals in four play-off games already the Jags are in red hot form going into the Staggies double header. Jack McMillan has netted three in four games and Doolan joked he’s currently the hottest right back in Europe.
He said: “He is probably the most prolific right back in Europe right now. That is typical the way the team is. We say to them about being the guy who scores for us, no matter what position they play.
“We want everyone to want to score. We have threats all over the park. If you stop Scott Tiffoney, you can’t stop Aidan Fitzpatrick. If you stop Fitzpatrick, you can’t stop Jack McMillan or Kevin Holt. All of a sudden we have threats all over the park and it is difficult to shut all of that down.”
Doolan, who sadly lost his father Lawrence on the eve of the play-off quarter final win over Queen’s Park, said: “It’s almost half a season I have been in charge. If you go through half a season with one defeat then you are doing well. Coming into these two big games, momentum is huge and it is difficult to stop it.
“I have been through a lot recently but I think everything is going great. The boys are working so hard and they deserve a chance at the Premiership”
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