Andrew Considine

Andrew is one player who will be looking forward to the trip to Firhill on Friday as the big defender has a decent scoring record in the North West part of Glasgow.

“Yeah I have scored a few times down there! I think I have three. One in the league last season, one in the Scottish Cup tie in 2014 and one in the League Cup back when Jimmy Calderwood was manager.

“It has been a good place to go for me. And mostly it has been a good place for the team to go. But it is a very tough place to get a result. And it will be extremely tough on Friday as they are going into the game off the back of a couple of very good away results. They will be high in confidence.

“Even with the past two defeats for ourselves there is still a lot of confidence within our squad. All the boys are still feeling upbeat from the run we were on before that. It goes without saying though that it is vital we get the results we need in the next two games to keep us up the top end of the table and to get the results we need leading up to the final. Friday night is extra important with an international break around the corner. If we can get a result we get then enjoy a break for a few days and put our feet up with our heads held high.  

“The manger and Doc have warned us that a slap in the face is always just around the corner and that is what has happened in the past week. If we are going to be challenging at the top end of the table we have to be very wary of that going into every game.

“Against Hamilton, although in my opinion the penalty award was not a great decision, we still had plenty of time to get ourselves back into the game. Second half we played a lot better, we were a completely different team but we just failed to capitalise on our opportunities.

“There are fine margins in football.

“Against Celtic we had a couple of half chances first half, a few in the second half and in the last 10 minutes we had them pinned back. I have not watched the Graeme Shinnie incident back but I believe we should have had a penalty. I know they had a couple of breakaways, Joe has made one great save, but I thought defensively overall we did ok.”

And defensively the side having being doing very well of late. Celtic’s goal on Saturday was the first one conceded from open play since Kevin Holt scored for Dundee in the 13th minute of the game on the 18th of September.

“Ash has been out for a number of weeks now so there has been a few changes. All season the backline has changed a bit but I would say that we have done well, especially recently. Whoever has come in has not looked out of place. Mark Reynolds has come back in and is back to his best. Everyone is delighted to see that. We all know what he can do. The addition of Anthony has made us stronger, since arriving he has done superbly. As well as his defensive qualities, he has added some real accuracy from playing out from the back.

“The coaching staff sat down and spoke with all the defenders when we had our pre-season at St Andrews and we had an open and honest chat about things. The staff spoke about what they expect from each of us, and we all gave some feedback.

“After training every day, the defenders spend another five or ten minutes together, working on a few things. We do it every day to keep drilling things into each other. Whoever has had to play, whether it be Shay, Ash, Anthony, Mark or myself or whether Graeme is at left-back, we have still managed to work well together as a defensive unit. Everyone looks confident in what they are doing.

“Joe Lewis has helped the defence too. He has been sensational since he arrived at the club. Big Joe is constantly talking to the back four and he is very commanding in the area, which is what every defender wants. He has been outstanding and he is a good lad in the dressing room, quickly becoming a very important player to have on and off the park.

“As defenders we take great pride in our defending. It’s very much about working as a unit. If we can keep a clean sheet, we will win more games than we lose.”