Jack fires warning shot to his Thistle

Apr 9 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

BATHGATE boss Paul Jack has candidly acknowledged his team’s fallibility with the warning: “Nobody is too good to go down!”

Jack’s brutal honesty comes as his Thistle side lace up their boots for the fight of their lives in their bid to beat the drop.

The Jags, who won the Junior Scottish Cup last season, have struggled in the league this year and are currently propping up the rest at the foot of the table.

They are four points behind Whitburn but crucially both West Lothian sides have a number of games in hand on their relegation rivals.

There is no doubt both camps have enough quality to move up the table but to do so they must start winning games and chalking up points.

And Jack wants to see Thistle do just that, starting with league leaders and county neighbours Linlithgow Rose on Saturday.

“Linlithgow Rose are a great team and they have a good bunch of lads there who I have a lot of time for but we won’t be doing them any favours,” he insisted.

“They are chasing the title and we need the points as well for our own battle so it’s going to be a tough game.

“Saturday is a massive game for us given the position we are in.

“The key will be our defence keeping Rose quiet up front. If we can keep it tight then we could win as I always fancy us being able to score.

“We have a great goal threat and are more than capable of snatching a goal at any stage so as long as we keep it tight then we will have a chance.”

Thistle go into their crucial inter-county clash on the back of a disappointing cup exit in which they had led 4-2 with just a few minutes to play.

And Jack reckons it was preventable mistakes which cost Bathgate their place in the East of Scotland Cup.

He said: “I think individual errors in the last third cost us on Saturday. We worked hard to get the two-goal advantage but I think a few of us switched off and that’s not acceptable.”

So Bathgate have nine games to clamber up the table and avoid relegation but in a league where any one team is capable of beating or taking points of another it won’t be an easy run in.

Jack added: “We have nine games left to turn things around and that gives us a little bit of time but other teams already have the points on the board and that could be a disadvantage.

“But everyone in this league is beating everyone and that is a little bit scary.

“No team is too good to go down and that has been shown in the past at all levels. The only way we can get out of the situation we are in is if every single member of the squad works hard for one another.

“I’m a great believer that if you work hard enough then you will get your rewards. I don’t think we did that in the first quarter which is why we are in the position we are now.”