Partick Thistle's Alan Archibald insists it will be "all hands to the pump" when try to bale themselves out of an injury crisis against Celtic in the late kick-off game today. Frederic Frans (hamstring), Sean Welsh (bone bruising), Jake Carroll (knock), Abdul Osman (hamstring), and Jordan McMillan (personal reasons), are all out of the game against the league leaders. The Maryhill club confirmed that defender Aaron Muirhead has left after his contract was terminated by mutual consent while Stuart Bannigan is sick and will be assessed on Thursday. The Jags manager has only one recognised full-back in Stephen O'Donnell and will ask a makeshift team to dig deep against Celtic.
Archibald said: "We have real problems but we just have to deal with it. Stuart Bannigan phoned in sick this morning and we will give him every opportunity but we are looking at having probably six regulars missing. It is a problem. When you have injuries at any part of the season it is hard we are missing two guys from the one area (full-backs Carroll and McMillan) and maybe three because Stuart Bannigan has been filling in there. Dale Keenan has played there but he has also been ill and Christie Elliott has played there so we will see what we have got. We have a couple of options and we just need to manage it as best as we can. But it is all hands to the pump. It will be a difficult game against Celtic. They always are but losing probably six regulars starters gives someone else a chance and we still have enough quality on the pitch. We will look for others to go and lead by example."
Callum McGregor has had to endure the ribbing from his Celtic team-mates for being a substituted substitute but hopes to be in manager Ronny Deila's plans for the trip to Firhill. The midfielder replaced Anthony Stokes after just nine minutes of Saturday's home game against Ross County before he was taken off after 67 minutes for Kris Commons, as Deila tried to find a way to break down the Staggies defence during the Scottish Premiership draw. Ahead of the game at Firhill, where the champions could start the game in second place if Aberdeen win against St Johnstone, McGregor acknowledged what is usually an embarrassing scenario for any player but vowed to battle to regain a place in the starting line-up which he enjoyed regularly earlier in the season.
He said: "Some of the boys were having a laugh about it on Tuesday morning so I am trying to take it in good spirits and will keep working hard to be in his plans. Obviously it was a bit disappointing to be a substitute then taken off again. It would have been a bit different had I been on for five minutes and taken back off. I played about an hour so that's not bad. I was a little bit surprised but it is the manager's decision, he felt it was best for the team at the time so ultimately I have to respect that and so that is fine by me."
Aberdeen have cut the deficit behind the champions at the top of the league to two points. The Scotland Under-21 player, however, does not believe there is a lot wrong at Celtic at the moment, although he believes the challenge from the Pittodrie side is genuine. He went on: "The last two games have been a bit frustrating for us because we played well and did enough to win the games. It was just the final touch that wasn't there. But we will keep working on that in training and hopefully get better so that we can finish games off. The main thing for us is that we have dominated the games. It would be disappointing if we weren't (dominating) and getting beat. That poses a different challenge, but the fact is we are still playing well. We just need to put the ball in the back of the net. And if Aberdeen do win and go top it is an incentive for us to put on a show. They have recruited really well and have a good squad of players, a good mix of experience and youth, with a good manager. So you have to give credit to them, they are doing well and are pushing us all the way just now. We have to focus on our stuff and do what we can to keep winning games."