PARTICK THISTLE manager Ian McCall faces an unwelcome selection headache this afternoon as the Jags prepare to host Morton in their final Betfred Cup group stage fixture.

With the two sides tied on five points, both clubs know a win will give them an unlikely shot at qualification for the last 16 – but the home side will be severely hampered by an ever-growing list of absentees.

Goalkeepers Jamie Sneddon and Luke Scullion have both been ruled out of contention; defenders Tam O’Ware, Ciaron McKenna and Andy Rodden will all miss out; captain Ross Docherty will not play in midfield; while up top Zak Rudden, Brian Graham and Salim Kouider-Aissa are all unavailable.

It makes today’s encounter all the more challenging for McCall and while the Thistle manager admits it is unlikely that his side will be involved in tomorrow’s draw for the last 16, he takes solace from a pearl of wisdom dished out by a Firhill great.

“We’ve got thirteen outfield players and two goalkeepers available,” sighed McCall. “But as one of our greatest-ever managers John Lambie would say, it only takes one to win a game of football. It looks unlikely either team will qualify but you never know with this competition.

“Our home record has been really good. We’ve won two and drawn one and in the one that we drew [last week against Falkirk], we let in a goal in the last minute. I’ve watched it back and we should have won that game. We know Morton are a league above us but it’s a game we want to win and we want to keep the home record going.”

Thistle’s home record is certainly encouraging, albeit with a small sample size, but there has been an underlying theme to much of the Jags’ play this season: a tendency to fluff their lines in attack when a chance finally presents itself, married with a propensity for individual errors at the back.

There’s obviously a slice of misfortune in there – such as Falkirk’s farcical opening goal last weekend, where the ball ricocheted off Calumn Morrison and looped into the top corner – but the fact remains that letting in late goals has been a hallmark of Thistle’s slump down the pyramid in recent years.

It means that the Jags are now sixth in League One with just a solitary point to show for their exertions in their last two games when they really should have had four. McCall reluctantly admits that misfortune has played its part recently but was quick to underline a simple truism of the sport: more often than not, a team makes its own luck.

“The last two games we’ve had in the league – we lost a game in the 94th minute that we really shouldn’t have lost, and drew a game at home to the other full-time club in the league in the 89th minute,” he said. “It’s very narrow margins with these things. The table could look a lot different but it’s early days now.

“With this game, we’re just looking forward to it. It’s at home but we really enjoy playing at home and we’ll have to play a certain way. I think momentum is the right term to use – it keeps that going, certainly at home, and then we’ve got another big league game the following week.

“The one at Cove was an individual error from the guy who was the best player on the pitch [Docherty]. I didn’t see it coming because we were really comfortable and looked like we were going to go on to win. We had two or three chances in the second half.

“Against Falkirk, the first goal was offside. James Penrice did everything right, he hits it off the boy’s knee and it doesn’t just go in – it goes right in the top corner. Then we missed a penalty and Doc missed a great chance so we’re not doing that much wrong. It’s just that crucial moments aren’t quite falling for us just now. Some are our own fault and some are maybe not our fault.

“You can’t keep saying that [Thistle are unlucky]. Certainly, the first Falkirk goal was clearly offside and the goal shouldn’t have stood but you know what? There’s no one else to blame for missing that penalty and missing that sitter. We were to blame for that.

“We scored two really good goals and could quite easily have ended up with four but we didn’t. That chance is gone now and we have to move on but it’s narrow, narrow margins.

“You look back at the first game of the season at Clyde – we hit the inside of the post then Salim goes to head it in and takes a kick right in the nose and it breaks, there’s blood everywhere. The ref doesn’t even give a penalty and then Clyde go up the other end and score. Just now, we need to capitalise better on key moments when they arrive.”

On Thursday night, McCall joined the hundreds of thousands of supporters at home by tuning into Scotland’s Euro 2020 play-off victory over Serbia that ended our 22-year wait to reach the finals of a major tournament.

The Jags boss was effusive in his praise for what Steve Clarke and his players achieved – but McCall admitted that there was one point in the game that sent a familiar shudder of fear tingling down his spine.

“It was absolutely magnificent,” he beamed. “From the highs to the lows, then back to the highs – there’s a real humility about that squad and an awful lot of quality.

“I texted Stevie last night. He’s not messaged back yet but no wonder! It was just utterly, utterly fantastic and even more important because of the times we’re living in. I’m delighted for them all.

“As Partick Thistle manager, I’ve seen my team lose goals in the 94th and 89th minutes in the last two weeks and I was thinking to myself, ‘Come on Scotland, don’t do that’ and then they did!

“It was terrific for the whole country. Football is much more than a sport in this country, as it is in a lot of other places around the world. It’s terrific.”