Falkirk raring to go

Posted Saturday, December 18, 2010 by PA

Falkirk will be looking to end a five-week period of inactivity when they welcome Partick Thistle should a pitch inspection prove successful.

Winger Jack Compton should make his first appearance since October, but striker Tam McManus remains out injured.

The Bairns have not been totally idle with manager Steven Pressley saying: "We have had bounce games against Celtic and Kilmarnock and acquitted ourselves really well.

"Those games allowed us to work on a couple of things that will help in the Partick Thistle game.

"A huge effort has gone in to getting this game played and we will be going out to show our gratitude. We hit five goals in our last game and we will be looking to build on that from kick off in this one."

Thistle welcome back captain Alan Archibald from suspension with the defender in line to replace hamstring injury victim Conrad Balatoni.

Winger Chris Erskine is a doubt with a calf strain and could join the injured duo of John Robertson and Ryan McBeth on the sidelines.

The Jags are inching their way up the table after hitting bottom spot in October with Firhill assistant manager Ian Maxwell saying: "This is a really tough game but we are on a good run just now particularly defensively.

"If we could maybe just add that little extra ingredient up front we would be turning draws into wins and climb even higher than the seventh place we are currently in."