First team

The Preview: Partick Thistle vs Ross County

16/10/2025

By Ramsay Banks

Ross County have another tough road trip to contend with on Saturday as they travel to Glasgow to take on Partick Thistle.

The Jags sit second in the Scottish Championship, six points behind St. Johnstone, who have played a game more.

Thistle are unbeaten in five matches but have drawn in their last two outings.

Kickoff is at 3:00 pm at Firhill Stadium.

Ross County

The Staggies have stabilised their form after a turbulent start to life back in the Championship.

A 0-0 draw away to league leaders St. Johnstone last week added a positive point to the previous win against Raith Rovers.

Now unbeaten in the last two, County will look to climb up the table with a view to reaching the playoff places over the coming weeks. A win against Thistle could earn a rise from eighth to sixth if results elsewhere go the right way.

When the full-time whistle went at McDiarmid Park, Tony Docherty went to the travelling County fans to thank them for their support and was met with an appreciative round of applause.

County had to dig deep and defend for the draw against Saints, but did threaten on numerous occasions and were good value for a point.

A late goal-line clearance from Declan Gallagher summed up the way every Staggies player fought to ensure they brought something back up to Dingwall with them.

Efforts from Ronan Hale and Gary Mackay-Steven were saved by Toby Steward to ensure the match remained goalless.

Player to watch: Declan Gallagher

Marking a good performance in Perth with a heroic clearance off the line, the County captain will be crucial to the hopes of the team against Thistle.

The Staggies have kept two clean sheets in their last two matches, and Gallagher has been in good form in the heart of defence - completing the full 90 in both.

His leadership and experience alongside the strengths of Alex Iacovitti and Akin Wright have been invaluable as the defence has started to gel. County fans will hope that they stay in form and the run of clean sheets continues, as leaking easy goals was a problem for the team earlier in the season.

Partick Thistle

The Jags have started their season very well as they look to launch a promotion bid, not having made an appearance in the top flight since 2018.

Manager Mark Wilson made the step up from the Thistle coaching staff in the summer following the departure of club legend Kris Doolan, and has transformed them into a dangerous side.

Despite being six points behind St. Johnstone in top spot, they have played a game fewer and have an identical record over the past five matches.

County and Thistle last met in August, and it was one to forget for the Staggies. Goals from Ben Stanway, Logan Chalmers and Steven Lawless earned the Jags a 3-1 away win against County, whose only goal came through Connor Randall.

Performances across the board will have to be greatly improved from that encounter in Dingwall, but with County coming off the back of two games against similarly tough opposition, they should be up to the task.

Player to watch: Logan Chalmers

Deployed mainly out wide for Thistle, Chalmers has scored in two of his last four matches and is joint second in the league scoring charts with five to his name so far.

The County defence knows exactly how much he can punish teams who lose focus for even a second, as one of his goals came in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.

The winger also has an assist to his name and is crucial to the Jags when it comes to creating threatening situations in wide areas as they look to attack the box.

Whichever Staggies full back is assigned the task of keeping Chalmers quiet will have their hands full as they look to help the team keep another clean sheet.

Familiar faces

Alex Samuel signed for Thistle in the summer after he left Ross County upon the expiry of his contract. The popular Welshman has made a good start to life in red and yellow and has already scored two goals for his new team.

Kyle Turner made 23 appearances in County colours and will look to hurt his former club on behalf of Partick Thistle on Saturday.

County midfielder Ross Docherty used to captain the Jags and enjoyed a three-year spell at Firhill before moving to Dundee United in 2023.

Staggies academy graduate Josh Reid had a brief loan spell with Thistle last season, where he made nine appearances.

Team News

Noah Chilvers, Andrew Macleod and Sean Mackie remain out.

Kieran Phillips and Ross Docherty are back in the early stages of training.

Refereeing team

Referee: Peter Stuart

AR1: Ross Macleod

AR2: Steven G. Spence

Ticket information

Away fans will be housed in the Jackie Husband stand.